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;acher Training 

WITH THE 

Master Teacher 



Beardslee 




Class _^\/j^_M- 
Book .IB^ 



Copyright^"^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



Teacher -Training 
with the Master Teacher 

STUDIES OF CHRIST IN THE 



ACT OF TEAC HI NG AS A MEANS 
OF LEARNING HOW TO TEACH 



By 

REV. C. S. BEARDSLEE, D.D. 

Professor in Hartford Theological Seminary 



PHILADELPHIA 

THE SUNDAY SCHOOL TIMES COMPANY 

1903 



-p^'""^ 



LIBRARY «* OONGRESS 
Two Oontes SecRived 

JUL 13 '1904 



Cooyrfeht Entry 
CLASS 'Ct XXc. N 

7 



1. i H- 8 

COPY B 



Copyright, 1903 
C. S. BEARDSLEE 



I« « « 



TO THE GOODLY FELLOWSHIP OF TEACHERS: 



A REVERENT TRIBUTE; 
AND AN EARNEST APPEAL. 



CONTENTS 



Pagb 
9 



Preface ......... 

I. To Refine a Crude Nature . . 13 

II. Winning an Alien Life .... 17 

III. Defining and Defending His Mission . 21 

IV. The Winning of Peter .... 25 
V. Answering Deadly Critics . . 29 

VI. Dealing with Doubt .... 33 

VII. Rest Under Burdens .... 37 

VIIL Teaching Mercy to a Pharisee . . 41 

IX. How Greed for Goods Stifles Souls . 45 

X. The Logic of Trust .... 49 

XL Meaning of a Meal with a Publican . 53 

XII. True Food for Immortals ... 57 

XIII. Ethics and Etiquette : Which Holds Primacy? 61 

XIV. True Candidates for Majesty . . 65 
XV. The Deeps of Forgiveness . . 69 

XVL Handling a Shifty Lawyer ... 73 

XVIL The Full Truth Concerning Prayer . 77 

XVIIL When Pupils Lie in Ambush . . . 81 

XIX. W^hen Pupils Push for Primacy . . 85 

XX. The Distasteful Bliss .... 89 

XXI. Eating with Outcasts ... 93 

XXII. Luxury vs. Charity : A Life Choice . 97 

XXIII. The Lure of Wealth . , , . loi 



8 Contents 

Page 

XXIV. The Last First 105 

XXV. Riches and the Kingdom: Special Studies 109 

XXVI. Zaccheus 113 

XXVII. The Stewardship Idea .... 117 

XXVIII. Is Man Immortal? . . . • 121 

XXIX. The Cost of Glory 125 

XXX. Vine Culture and Soul Culture . 129 

XXXI. Facing Roman Eagles . . . • I33 

XXXII. Risen, but Teaching Still ... 137 

XXXIII. HeWas Full of Truth .... 143 

XXXIV. He Was Full of Grace ... 147 
XXXV. He Was Wholly Pure .... 151 

XXXVI. He Had Authority .... 155 
XXXVII. He Was Thoughtful, Balanced, Simple, 

Replete 159 

XXXVIII. He V/as Intense, Ready, Brief, Intrepid 163 
XXXIX. He Was Concrete, Manifold, Poetic, 

Beautiful . . . . . . 167 

XL. The Whole in Brief : His Vigor, Grand- 
eur, Symmetry, Kinship . . 171 
Sample Questions for Examination . , . 175 



PREFACE. 

This little book aspires to seal a close affiance 
between would-be teachers and the holy Christ. It is 
born of boundless admiration for the Lord, and of deep 
solicitude that all who labor in his name may worthily 
respect their sacred dignity. It holds the teacher's 
work in reverent esteem, and conceives the Master's 
excellence herein to stand easily supreme. It has high 
confidence in the transforming power of any open vision 
of the Saviour^s face. Hence it simply seeks to designate 
the various beauties of the Master as they appear among 
his wise and kindly ways. Its every phrase aspires to be 
an index finger, pointing with open pride towards the 
teaching Christ. At every turn it begs to say with joy- 
ful eagerness, "See here !" "See there !" "Behold your 
Lord!" 

To the Student. 

Keep free. Heed this truly. Above all things be 
yourself. See with your own eyes. Let your thinking 
be your own. Preserve your independence. Gain some 
findings that shall be fully, truly yours. 

Learn to look. Use your eyes. That is, read. Read 
through and through the Gospel scene. Read to see. 
See what you read. Put all your intellect into your 
eyes. Then read with all your eyes. Look. 

Then think. Think, first, to make things stand apart. 
Distinguish. Make your seeing definite. Make the 
different features of the Gospel scene begin to individ- 
ualize. Get every factor by itself. Look and think until 
you know, in close detail, just what you see. Persist in 
this. 

9 



/o 



Preface 



Then think again. Compare. Combine. Set the 
separate things together. Find out affinities. Learn 
how Christ unites. Trace out his reasonings. Push for 
unity. 

Thus bring out to light Christ's teaching art. De- 
tect the secret of his leadership in conference. Track 
out the genesis of his opinions. Dig up his motives. 
Locate his aims. Find out his ways and means. Grow 
familiar with the workings of his mind. Extract the 
very genius and spirit of his teaching work. 

Pursue the work in order. Do the first thing first. 
Leave the last thing, till the last. Do not begin to prate 
about Christ's skill and art, while still the very stufl 
that gives the scene its shape is strange. 

In all, be honest to the very core. Never trifle 
Never dawdle. Never sham. You study Christ. 



To the Teacher. 

Be a model student, first. Be a faithful fellow 
student to the last. 

Grasp each lesson as a whole. Its basis is a single 
Gospel scene. However full or manifold, it has a 
natural unity. Find its core. Then keep that central 
feature all the while in view. 

See how the lessons subdivide. Trace those lines of 
natural cleavage. In following these inner boundaries 
get to be expert. Learn to handle the major portions 
separately. It is curious to see how many times a 
major fraction will contain the whole. 

Learn to allot these major sections separately to dif- 
ferent members of your class. This will lessen the 
student's task, while leading him still into the lesson's 
heart. 

In handling any single lesson, plot out some plan. 
Then hold it fast. Do not suffer vagrancy. Only so 
will you ever reach the end. 

In arranging the entire course, keep elastic. Adjust 
your programme to your class. Shape your schedule 
as you wish. Linger in one lesson longer, if you desire. 



Preface ii 



Omit whole lessons, if you. like. Attempt original tasks, 
if you have a competent class. 

Discourage haste. Do not rush to reach the fortieth 
lesson in the fortieth week. Cherish thoroughness. 
In every scene the Saviour stands entire. Do fine work. 
Take time. 

Insist on thought. Note how simple all the ques- 
tions are. They lie within the range of common, daily 
life. Not ten inquiries in all the book are beyond the 
range of the average person above eighteen, if he will 
look and think. But no man can answer them off-hand. 
And they refuse to be disdained. 

Appreciate the difference in those lessons at the end 
— the closing eight. They demand peculiar breadth and 
steadiness of view. They aim at final synthesis — a 
short inclusive statement of the whole. In them the 
strength and earnestness of your mind must do their 
best. And it will take your time. But get your powers 
all together and settle down. Begin. Persist. And do 
not end until you see how all your visions of your Lord 
can blend and unify. 



LESSON I. 

To Refine a Crude Nature. 

John 3 : 1-21. 

I. Get to understand Nicodemus. How does he 
come? What does he seek? What does he need? For 
any teacher, such questions as these are primary mat- 
ters. We may be sure Christ, in teaching, took no step 
in the dark. He knew his man. Now what stands clear 
upon the face of Nicodemus, at the very start ? Can you 
say? 

(a) He was a dignitary; think of this. And he 
carried into the conference his class consciousness ; note 
his plurals. And he chose the night ; this seems notable. 
Do you feel sure what it means? And he must have felt 
some motive ; but see if you can state it. You will find it 
impossible. He was non-committal. He named no 
errand. He gave the conversation no aim. He merely 
opened it. This is a vital point. Think what it suggests 
about Nicodemus; what it must signify for Christ. 
Think of the scholar who is neutral. But he does show 
deference. See if you can define this. 

Now Jesus sets in. Watch what he does. He accosts 
him in the singular ; he parts him from his class ; he 
looks him in the eye. He makes his assertion gravely 
strong. He selects for his theme the kingdom. He 
avers that its vision requires for any one a birth from 
above. 

(b) Now study Nicodemus again. Jesus has set be- 
fore him a definite theme, one that goes to the top of his 
hope, to the core of his life. Mark how the man replies. 
It will go far to show what kind of a man he is. Note 
first his omission. In quoting Jesus' theme he drops 
out a vital phrase, "from above." Stop right here. That 
oversight has grave significance. It is an unconscious 

13 



1 4 Teacher-Training icith 

discovery of Nicodemus' nature. It shows his grain. 
Can you define this? Try. Then observe from this 
how far apart, how widely unlike, these two persons are. 
Do not be limp here. You face essentials. Make sorn^ 
answer, and frame your answer as a teacher. Jesus 
must take some next step. What should it be? Was 
his actual move a wise one? If you say yes, say just 
why. No earnest teacher will drift lazily past this point. 
Keep thinking. Where did Nicodemus trip? It 
was over that solemn hint of his need of re-birth. 
Think how Jesus meant these words. But such a mean- 
i^ng Nicodemus has no eye to see. Study his mind. It 
is negligent. It is in perplexity. Its answer more than 
hints a doubt. It comes close to bald denial. And all 
because he is not spiritually alert. He is encased in 
flesh. He really needs to be born from above. See this. 
How unwittingly he betrays the very truth he is so 
inclined to deny. So deep is his need. But so dull is his 
eye. What shall the Master do? What would you do? 

(c) Now study Christ's procedure. Can you analyze 
vv. 5-8, having Nicodemus' actual state and attitude in 
mind? In the first place, in the heart of Jesus' words, 
he roundly reaffirms just what he said before. Mark 
that. Then he distinguishes two births, bringing the 
spiritual sharply to the front, and alluding to water as 
its symbol. Then he calls this spiritual energy a hidden 
and unsearchable mystery. Now unify this, and give it 
point, and fix its point on Nicodemus. Is it this? 
Nicodemus is to have done with grovelling, forego all 
doubting, and stop his marvelling. He is to face 
towards heaven, and give Christ's spirit life straight 
entrance to his very soul. 

(d) Now weigh Nicodemus' second retort. He is 
stuck just where he was. But the case is not the same. 
He stands in fuller light. State the case. Jesus has 
pointed most impressively towards the bright, pure, 
hidden spirit realm. But Nicodemus seems to have no 
eye to look that way. Will you trace out his profile? 
He is a dull, uncultured soul, having no inner sense of 
inner need, no craving towards God's *pure excellence, 
no deep humility, no glint of penitence, no relish for the 



The Master Teacher r^ 

Messiah's saving mercy, no real solicitude, no true 
dociliiy. He is spiritually inert. Is this too harsh? 
Then moderate it, only striving honestly to gain precise 
agreemem with what Jesus must have thought. 

Now what would you do next? Are you in a state 
accurately to forecast his policy? If you are, you are a 
rarity. You are well entitled to counsel others how to 
teach. The Master first pricks the empty bubble of his 
sordid pupil's dignity (v. lo). Then he jealously corrob- 
orates his own veracity. See how he does it. Then he 
opens into tn'o stupendous themes : the world's dense 
shroud of darkness and guilt; and his heavenly com- 
mission to save by sacrifice all sinners who believe, 
taxing most pointedly the stolid unbelief of the class 
whom Nicodemus represents. And so Nicodemus van- 
ishes. 

2. Now. observe the Teacher. Follow him from the 
start. 

(a) Watch him pick and hold his theme. Would 
you ever have done like that? Follow him throughout. 
Nicodemus was pitifully unreceptive. unresponsive, to 
say the very least. But Jesus held fast to his chosen 
theme. Suppose you try to get the m.eaning of this in 
teaching. And observe the sum and range of his 
thought — the kingdom, the new birth, the need, the 
Spirit, the mystery, the heavenly vision, the witness, the 
world ruin, the world rescue, the faith, the eternal life. 
What is your opinion of the value to a teacher of such a 
fertile fullness of thought? 

(b) Feel his moral earnestness. Study the Master's 
main purpose, first with Nicodemus, then with all the 
world. Mark his tenacity, as Nicodemus confronts his 
words with doubt. See his jealousy to be believed. 
Notice how tense his avowals all are, how piercing his 
insight, how strenuous his idea about the need of a 
spiritual birth. Tarry here. To all appearances this 
conference made no headway. But so it only illustrates 
his whole experience. All evil doers hate the light. His 
career is to culminate upon the cross. But he holds 
straight on ever>' where, as here. Another man may be a 
moral nobody. Jesus, never. Think of this. Imagine 



j6 Teacher'Training with 

his moral resolution easing up and giving way. But how 
about any other teacher? 

(c) See how he levels human pride. The "need" 
of the ''birth" from "above" — could any w^ord cut deeper 
into human vanity, or make fuller havoc of all self-right- 
eousness? 

(d) See how this conference embodies an infinite 
love. He came to save. He teaches to save. He dies 
to save. And all the world is herein had in view. 

(e) See his finished art. When Nicodemus began, his 
words made Christ the theme. When Jesus replied, he 
made Nicodemus the theme. Can you see how he 
accomplished this ? Then, though dealing with a neutral 
sort of mind, he has made this talk a conference ; and he 
has made the conference yield up naturally the mightiest 
positive themes. Do you see how this was done? This 
is a point you do well to study out. Then that analogy 
of the wind — can you trace its meaning to its very 
point ; and tell exactly what that point pins fast, and 
show its fine simplicity? And then that introduction of 
his own sacrificial love ; can you say it is out of place ? 
But can you show just how it gained a place in these 
remarks ? 

(f) Now unify the whole in a proHle of the model 
Teacher as he sits at work. Are these the outstanding 
features? He is spiritual. He deals with character. 
He feels an infinite repugnance for sin. He works 
towards life. He is merciful. His primal instinct is to 
point to the open door of the kingdom ; to proffer the 
infinite aid of the Spirit, to offer himself in sacrifice. He 
is the soul of honor. His every word is verity. To hint 
at discrediting aught he says lifts his resentment to the 
very skies. He is imperial. In all this scene, whatever 
aspect opens, he stands supreme. These are the great 
outline strokes. Fill them up. Come to know the 
Master Workman in his work. He is the very light of 
every teacher's eye. 



The Master Teacher 



LESSON II. 

Winning an Alien Life. 

John 4 : 5-26. 

1. Imagine the scene — an arid land, a hot and dusty 
footman, the blaze of a Syrian sun, the rarity of wells, 
the disciples away seeking food, the Master's physical 
need. Realize the Samaritan-Jewish race feud. Gather 
allusions to it from the Gospels. Define Christ's task 
here : to overcome unfriendliness towards the Jews, 
towards himself, towards God, towards righteousness. 

2. The process. How the pure, holy, spiritual, uni- 
versal Christ won his way into a sordid, narrow life. 

(a) He calls for a drink. Think of the nature of this 
appeal. It sprang from bodily thirst. This is an 
exigent necessity. It touches something common to 
all men. To refuse is to be inhuman. It means carry- 
ing a race feud to an absurdity. Think into this. Here 
is a very simple, homely request. But there is tucked 
up within it a perfect art. Feel the force, the stress of 
the Master's petition — a call out of bodily suffering, for 
God's gift, from a fellow man. For breaking down race 
prejudice, or showing the ugliness of race hate, or find-* 
ing a vantage ground for friendliness, no point of attack 
could be better chosen. Think of this. You term it 
commonplace. But see if you can, by any device of 
your own, surpass its skill. 

But scan her answer. Weigh it. Describe it closely. 
It was sportive, scornful, hard, ungodlike ; bitterly, in- 
humanly unfeeling and cold. But she saved her race 
honor! Here is a place for thought. Do not idle. And 
do not rush on. Stop right here, and get to work. De- 
fine things. What sort of a case does Christ confront? 
He must take some next step. Join in with him in trying 
to think what that next step should be. Exactly here 
is a chance for finest teaching art. 



j8 Teacher-Training with 

(b) Jesus' resort is to a suggestion of God's good 
will towards her, of his own worth, and of living water. 
Here are three high themes. Study into their nature. 
Were they wisely introduced to such a woman in such 
a mood? These are not queries to be answered off-hand. 
But they need answering. Can you trace out the order 
of Christ's inner thought? What was his idea in men- 
tioning ''living water"? It links in just where? It 
leads forth just whither? Its power lies in just what? 
So handle each one of his three themes. See and think. 
How many themes are there here (v. lo) ? Are there 
really three, or only two, or after all, but one? Do you 
think this woman understood this? Do you? 

Now dig into her reply (vv. 11-12). Note her cold 
and dull insensibility. She seems to have no sense for 
God, or Christ, or her own inner thirst. She stands 
untouched, untaught. Here, again, get by yourself and 
think. Make sure you understand her case. Ponder 
upon her deep unconsciousness of her own deep life 
realities. But note her knowledge of Scripture. 

(c) Now see the Master's device (vv. 13-14). Here 
is a mighty transit. He sharpens his allusion to "living 
water." He shows that waters are of two kinds, of 
two values : the worth and help of the one perishing, 
men forever thirsting again ; the worth and help of the 
other permanent, men never thirsting any more, but 
finding in their inner personal being an unfailing spring, 
a well-head of eternal life. Now study. See how deft 
the Master is ; and how profound ; and how insistent. 
And do not fail, as you prize your soul, and long to be 
adept like Christ, to clear your mind about "eternal 
life" — just what it is, just how it springs within. Scan 
the woman's reply (v. 15). Just where does she stand? 
Has Jesus made any headway? Note each element: her 
deference, her plea, her weariness, that word "hither." 
She is open. But she is still earth-bound. Estimate 
each. What would you have said to her next? 

(d) Now fathom v. 16. What is its inmost signifi- 
cance? It is a closely personal touch. What more? It 
points straight to her hidden sin. But how? With 
choice and fine propriety. Is this so? Get your eye 



The Master Teacher /p 

exactly on Jesus' aim. Then weigh his words. They 
were poHshed shafts. He spoke of her ''husband." How 
fit ! But how keen ! Watch the woman. Just what is at 
work within her mind? She tells the truth. But she 
hides the truth (v. 17). What is needed now? No 
mind but the most refined and keen can ever say. But 
every teacher ought to know. 

(c) Now comes another arrow (vv. 17-18). It seems 
all point. Watch the Master, as he lays it to the bow 
and sends it home. Take that weapon in your hand. 
Weigh it, feel its edge. "Whom thou now hast is not thy 
husband." Get the value of that word "husband." Was 
it too direct, too severe? Could it be" more severe? 
Was it winged with scorn, or love? And now look at the 
woman. She must have felt two sentiments: a deep 
amazement, and a mantling shame. Now think and 
state. At just this point what had Jesus gained? 

(f) Now study the turn the woman takes (vv. 19- 
20). She seems to wish to (fiV.-rf the Lord. What does 
this mean? Would you have suffered it? Jesus did. He 
followed her proffered lead. Look at the woman. The 
Master's dart has stuck. Her words in the village betray 
this. And she shows high respect. And she leads to a 
high theme. But it involves the old feud. Think all this 
over. What is going on? 

(g) Here comes something worth your while (vv. 
21-24). No broader, finer, profounder words were ever 
voiced. And yet they come within the compass of a 
child. Study them. Study them as a reply. They are 
absolutely complete. Study their bearing on the feud. 
That unity of God. What terms could ever be devised 
more adequate and apt! Mark their bearing on^^the 
woman's life and character. See the play of "spirit" on 
her carnal life and thought. See the play of "truth" 
upon her inclination towards concealment and deceit. 
Then study "worship," such as Jesus designs. Can you 
define its value and power to clarify thought, purify life, 
unify men, magnify God, set all things right? Survey the 
whole. Was it quite wisely said? 

(h) But now the woman makes another turn. With 
her, diversion seems to be an art. See whither she goes. 



20 Teacher-Training loith 

She awaits the Christ. He will clear up all. This seems 
disappointing, she seems to close the conference. But 
note her outlook. It is towards the Christ. And the 
Master is alert. "I am he." And this is all. Now 
make true survey of this closing scene. Where do they 
stand? Has Jesus wrought his wish? Just how, step 
by step, has it been done? 

3. Teaching hints, (a) There is in every life an 
inner thirst, an inner weariness, an inner need, an inner 
hope, an inner sin. 

(b) There is a mighty power in friendliness. Deep, 
warm, strong, wise, patient friendliness is a moral 
teacher's choicest quality. 

(c) The process was incomplete and still at sea, until 
it opened into the inner sin. Compute the meaning of 
this woman's sin. How common is it? How corrupt- 
ing? 

(d) The most transcendent theme can touch the 
most earth-bound life. 

(e) Real teaching is absorbing. See if you can find 
where Jesus ate or drank that noon. 



The Master Teacher ^i 



LESSON III. 

Defining and Defending His Mission. 
Luke 4 : 16-30. 

I. Preliminary, (a) The place. Jesus is in his child- 
hood home, where he is well and widely known. He is 
in the familiar synagogue, where he was always w^ont 
to be, where all his townsmen would be found. 

(b) Christ's state of mind. Imagine this. Read 
over what he said, and think. Before he began, he 
could not have been inert or apathetic. He spoke out 
of the fullness of his heart. Before he spoke, his heart 
was full. Think. As Jesus entered, his mind must have 
been eager and wide-awake, his heart ardent, his pur- 
pose girt. Study your Master, as he steps inside and 
takes his seat. Now open your eye to his inner posture, 
as he stands up to read. Get attentive just here. He 
simply stands up in his place. He has said no word. 
He has not received the book. The Scripture has not 
been found. Now fancy. Was his mind at sea? As a 
matter of fact, within three fleeting minutes he is to face 
his neighbors with a public annunciation of his life 
career. Then see him take the prophecy in his hand. 
Does he open the roll as a novice? In an instant he is 
to utter ponderous words. But as yet his lips are mute. 
He stands there silent, decisive, self-poised. Here is 
the Master Teacher, just about to teach. Study him. 

(c) His readiness. He is to explain Isaiah, and talk 
about God, and the Spirit, and men's need, and the 
strong good news. Do you suppose he ever studied 
Isaiah before, or brooded into the meaning of the Spirit's 
anointing, or walked in close conference with God, or 
felt for broken lives, or ever thoughtfully conned that 
message of good news? Was he anything less than 
fully ready before he commenced? Think. Could he 



:i2 Teacher^Training with 

have had his theme in mind before he found his place? 
Having his theme, would it be hard to find the fitting 
Scripture? Suppose they had given him some other 
Prophet, or the Psalms, or the book of the Law? Note 
how he reinforced his theme by a citation from the 
book of Kings. Answer this. How prevalent was this 
theme in the Hebrew writ? How deeply centered was 
it in Jesu^* life? Do you see the bearing of these simple 
inquiries? Do you deem it quite worthy in a Christian 
teacher to let them pass unanswered? 

(d) His equipment. 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon 
me." "He hath sent me." Here are impulse, and out- 
fit, and authority, and all of infinite scope. Peer into 
this. It was true, as he entered the S3magogue. He was 
fully furnished before he began. He was prepared to 
speak before he spoke. He stands fit for the waiting 
work. He hears the plaint of men. He feels the stir- 
rings of the Holy Spirit. He sees the designation of 
God. As he rises up and holds the roll, he stands there 
obedient, compassionate, inspired, fully familiar with the 
prophetic word. Now weigh all this. Thus the Master 
stood up to teach. And pause, and be honest, and be 
intent. What quality or furnishing does Jesus illustrate, 
that may not be freely shared by you ? 

2. The Teaching, (a) Christ defines his work. This 
is a momentous act. See if it is all in this one phrase : 
Ready help for human need. It is all a word for stricken 
ones. Study into this. See if there is any word for 
people who are pain-free, and glad, and whole. What 
do you say of this? Did the Master wittingly omit, or 
unwittingly overlook some section of his work? But he 
focuses all eyes. And all admire. As he speaks of 
human bonds and hurt and need, all stand marvelling 
at the unwonted grace and eloquence of his lips. Think. 
With such a theme, could you command such praise ? 

(b) But now his message takes a momentous turn. 
As he went on, wonder awoke. They couldn't see how 
speech so fair could come from one so plain. And they 
were saying : "After all this is only our neighbor's son." 
Ponder this. The stream that seemed so free is checked. 
But how? Misgivings intrude. They begin to depre- 



The Master Teacher 2j 

ciate his words. And the obstruction spreads right 
athwart the Master's course. What shall he do? Did 
you ever know such a case? What method do you 
advise? See what Jesus did. To begin with, he was 
absoTutely plain and frank. He brings their burrowing 
thoughts up into light. He makes their whisperings 
audible. In thought they challenge his pretensions and 
demand some warrant. '^Physician heal thyself." To 
this latent sentiment in them Jesus gives living voice. 
Now, was this act wise? In reality it helped to rouse 
and fire their hate and give it open form. But see what 
follows. 

(c) Jesus cites the Phoenician widow and the Syrian 
leper, mentioned in the books of Kings. In this make 
special note of two things : both cases were burdened 
with dire trouble; and both were aliens. Now, why did 
Jesus take this turn? Something is awry in his listeners' 
minds. This twist Jesus is trying to get straight. Can 
you explain it all ? See what it is by seeing what he 
does. He simply recites the tale of prophetic comfort 
brought to broken lives in foreign lands. Hereby he 
shows the beauty of lowly readiness in men for saving 
help from God ; and he publishes God's tenderness 
tow^ards all bruised sons of men. 

Now ponder this. See how it illustrates his theme 
from Isaiah. See all its implications. It leads the proud, 
contemptuous man to a lowly seat. It works towards 
broadening out one's sympathy towards universal grief 
and loss. It commends the broadest brotherliness. It 
invites to deepest lowliness. And notice. Only as this 
is done can Jesus carry on his appointed work unhin- 
dered. Till this is done his way is blocked. 

Now is this analysis correct? Study it. What 
words would you italicize? If this is right, does it fol- 
low that the attitude of the Nazarenes was a wicked 
obstinacy of Pharisaic pride? And was Jesus too 
abrupt? Considering his commission, could he do other- 
wise? As his teacher, can you state all this clearly, 
showing the case, showing his brave art, and so defin- 
ing your own ideal? Laziness just here is hardly 
becoming. 



^4 Teacher 'Training w'th 

3. The outcome. Define the issue. They are all 
in a fit of deadly rage. They even try right there to per- 
petrate the Master's death. How will you estimate this, 
as a failure, or a success? 

Jesus' eye, as he expounds Isaiah and feels the Spirit, 
and hears God's mission, is on the needy, the needy 
everywhere, the needy anywhere. This talk about 
wounds and blindness and bonds, and about aliens, the 
lofty and exclusive Galileans resent. Now here is a vital 
issue. That haughty heartlessness in them, and this 
yearning of free grace in him can never walk in unison. 
They are at w^ar. And whatever the battle may come 
to mean, the battle must be set. And the faithful, gra- 
cious Saviour doesn't flinch. Thus he taught. Can you 
rehearse it all in terse, clear terms ? Jesus came to help 
the hurt, to free the bound, to illumine the blind. Men 
resent the hint of need and guilt. Christ explodes their 
self-esteem and aristocracy. They retort with plots of 
death. This is an early scene in the Master's public life. 
But scan the Gospels. How often in his swift life did 
the very like recur? How liable is it all to occur even 
now? Is it prudent now for teachers to be as direct and 
decisive as Christ? 

4. Teaching hints, (a) As this scene presents Christ, 
what qualities of his are, as qualities, beyond your reach? 

(b) As Christ is seen in this scene, what qualities of 
his are within your reach? See what is involved in his 
fellow-feeling for the lowly. 

(c) As a guide to your own work, describe those 
who are likely, and those who are unlikely to welcome 
saving grace. 

(d) The relation of severity and kindliness. These 
qualities in this scene are worth your study. Was Jesus 
severe? How did he work it out? Every word was 
kindly. But he did hew to the line. Work this out. 
You will find few finer studies. And the Gospels are full 
of just such webs. You should understand their pattern. 
It will hardly be -worthy of a worthy teacher to give this 
up. 



The Master Teacher J15 



LESSON IV. 

The Winning of Peter. 
Luke 5 : i-ii. 

1. Make a picture in your mind of the scene. Let 
your imagination play ; it is better than any painter's 
aid. Think of the items : out of doors, by the lake, 
the boats, the nets, the fishermen, the vain night's toil, 
the throngs, Jesus at the center, the pressure about him. 
Make the scene clear — the scene in which Peter is 
enlisted as a fisher of men under Christ. 

What drew those throngs so compactly together? 
Make room in your thought for Christ's attracting 
power. Think of the open display of Christ's influence 
upon his fellow-men. This must have caught Peter's 
eye at the start. He saw Christ's power; he saw the 
throngs, eager towards the Master. 

2. Duly Christ singles out Peter. Have in mind his 
aim. Watch his way of doing it. 

(a) He enlisted Peter's boat. Mark this. The Mas- 
ter of the throngs, the center of the multitude's desire, 
used Peter's little fishing boat to prosecute his work. 
This was a moving act. It must have stirred the pride 
and thought and heart of Peter. 

He entered it as Master. Peter and his boat were 
subject to Jesus' word. Peter was not his own. Think 
of this. Imagine Peter refusing. But why did he so 
instantly obey? Something lordly in the Master must 
have been evident. Think carefully here. There is a 
fine deal of teaching power resident in one's very being 
and style. 

Peter set the boat and held it so as best to adjust the 
Master to the throng. Imagine his carefulness to do this 
right. Think of his being careless and clumsy and unhelp- 



26 Teacher- Trainihg icilh 

ful with his boat. Surely he would swing it about with 
an expert hand, and hold it in line with the Master's 
easiest use. But why? Be sure to answer. Just here 
Peter was an adept. This humble but helpful skill Jesus 
employed in a mighty enterprise. And Peter did his 
best. Measure what it meant, and how it came about, 
to what it led along. 

(b) There sits Peter, just behind the Lord, in easy 
reach. How would he be employed while Jesus taught? 
Would he be watching the boat? Why? Would he be 
studying the throng? Would he be pondering the Mas- 
ter, sitting there right against his knee, pouring heav- 
enly messages into human ears ? Think. What must 
have passed through Peter's soul, while the Master 
taught, and the people sat attent, and he steadied the 
boat. Think, too, of Christ. Would he be engrossed 
with the audience on the shore ? Or would he be con- 
stantly conscious of Peter, sitting just behind his back? 
To whom was the Master fitting that speech, to the men 
before, or to the m.an behind ? 

(c) Fasten in xovlv mind some picture of Jesus' man- 
ner, as he closed his address and turned around to Peter. 
Think here earnestly. What was Peter's mood and atti- 
tude at that momentous instant? How far had Jesus 
got in winning Peter's heart? Imagine. What would 
Peter next expect, his hands upon the familiar oars? 
Study this. Mighty interests are astir. Study the Mas- 
ter's way. What do you think — and do not fail to think 
this out all by yourself — what do you think was the 
most likely next step to secure Peters discipleship? Do 
not let your mind be empty here. Think something out. 

(d) That order to pull for the open sea and find the 
deep. Connect this with the influence and likely out- 
come of the teaching by the shore. How would the two 
combine in winning Peter's life-long love? Mark 
Peter's hesitancy. He had worn out the night in tedious, 
futile toil. He was worn and void of hope. But see his 
mood depart. Jesus' v/ord commands his will and he 
instantly sets to pulling out to sea. Stop and study this. 
How far has Jesus got in gaining Peter's loyalty for 
life? And how has it been done? And what remains 



The Master Teacher 2j 

to do? Evidently the Lord may work his will. Peter 
is under his hand. 

(e) That haul. Read into Jesus' mind. Why a 
miracle? Why this?. Why so bountiful? At its heart, 
what did it mean? Jesus had regard for Peter's body; 
he needed food. He had respect for Peter's trade ; he 
honored his nets. He had a sense of Peter's failure; he 
reversed his disappointment. Ponder this. Jesus showed 
himself to Peter, and to Peter all alone, a skillful, 
respectful, sympathetic helper and Lord. Heed every 
word, every turn. They are warp and woof of the 
Master's art. So he won his man. 

(f) Now look upon the zi'ondcr of it all. Who was 
Jesus, anyway? Recall his marvellous dominion over 
the multitude, his authority over Peter's boat, his sov- 
ereignty in beckoning towards the deep, his mastery of 
the fullness of the sea, his perfect lordship over every 
phase of Peter's being and life. Take the measure of all 
this. Get a living sense of the stature and majesty of 
Christ as he loomed in Peter's boat. Then, Peter's pros- 
tration at the last. Why was this? Just what did it 
mean? Was it of purpose in Jesus' mind that Peter 
should be overawed? Was it comely in Peter? Was it 
welcome to Christ? Imagine that sentiment of deep 
reverence omitted from the scene and from the heart 
of Peter. Just what was its value; and just how was 
it wrought? Was it really needful in an introduction to 
the Apostolate? 

(g) Now make your most careful list of Jesus' quali- 
ties, and of Peter's sentiments, aiming to find the essen- 
tial things in the work of enlisting a disciple of Christ. 
In Christ you will instantly think of majesty, friendli- 
ness, tact. But what more? In Peter you will name 
obedience, humility, devotedness. But what more? 
Then ponder that commission. Measure well each word. 
Do this. Here is a chance for an ample page of choicest 
appreciation of Jesus' words. 

3. Teaching hints, (a) Jesus taught from a boat. 
No cathedral, no choir, no vestments, no consecrated 
implements of any sort. What are the essentials of any 



28 Teacher-Training with 

teaching? What in all soberness, are the real necessities 
for effective teaching under Christ? 

(b) The power of mere manner. Picture the 
Master's appearance through all this : as he stood in 
the focus of the throng; as he threaded out; as he 
stepped into the boat (would he be awkward?) ; as he 
seemed to Peter's eye, while speaking to the throng; as 
he surveyed the sea and chose where to drop the net ; 
as the boat stood full; as he quieted Peter's fear? Think 
of this mere manner, mute but strong. 

(c) The transit of Christ's attention from the multi- 
tude to Peter. 

(d) The simplicity, majesty, familiarity of Christ: 
how entirely, in him, these three agree ! 



The Master Teacher 2i^, 



LESSON V. 

Answering Deadly Critics. 

John 5 : 10-47. 

1. The occasion. Jesus had so healed a man on the 
Sabbath as to violate current Sabbath rules. This he 
was doing continually. The Jews took offense and were 
continually assailing him. Jesus finally said that in it 
all he was only imitating God. At this the Jews took 
high offense. Such statements smelt of blasphemy. But 
study this from Jesus' side. See what it put at stake. 
By such a charge he stood beleaguered on every side. It 
essayed to undo his mission, his honor, his standing with 
God, his life. This is a sharp and vital case. Now fol- 
low the Master's method. 

2. His Teaching, (a) He protests perfect fellowship 
with God (v. 19). He denies that he does anything 
apart from God. He and the Father deeply agree. 

(b) This fellowship is not in fractions (v. 20). It is 
complete. The deeds of Father and Son are fully, 
exhaustively alike. All that the Father does he shows 
the Son. All that the Son beholds he freely does. 

(c) This co-partnership is due to love (v. 20). The 
Father loves the Son. Hence his revelation is absolutely 
unrestrained. Hence their unison in full fellowship of 
knowledge and deed. This is all. But see how complete 
it is. Work it over. It offers two persons — Father and 
Son. It points to one bond — love. Father, Son, Love. 
Ponder those three words. Into what measureless deeps 
they lead ! They are simple words indeed, familiar to us 
all. But no profounder themes were ever opened into 
human speech. Study here the Master's poise and skill 
and power. His words are plain as any peasant's. But 
he is impregnable, resistless, irrefutable. 

(d) But he not only defends, he expands his claims. 



JO Teacher-Trammg with 

He says that greater deeds than any yet in evidence are 
in God's design. In illustration he mentions two: he 
has received authority to raise the dead; and he has 
received authority to act as universal judge. He is to 
sit creative and supreme at the primal origin, and the 
ultimate issue of human life. Get the range of this 
assertion. It is fundamental, ultimate. Nothing human 
lies beneath or above or beyond its scope. 

Sit here awhile. Get the measure of the majesty of 
your Master's mind and w^ill. Men plot his death and 
spit upon his dignity. But he is no craven. And he is 
no weakling either. Study him as he talks on. 

(e) Now scale the summit of Christ's claim (v. 23). 
Here is the top of his filial and official self-conscious- 
ness. By the Father's design he, the Son, is to receive 
with the Father equal honor. Here is something 
superb. Stay in its presence. It is an unmeasured self- 
assertion. But it is said in filial beauty and grace. And 
notice how closely it is in keeping with his words about 
the Father's love. 

(f) Try now to unify all these claims. See how all 
is engrossed in the love of the Father for the Son. 
Hence the revelation, hence the knowledge, hence the 
authority, hence the honor. All flows out of the love 
of the Father for the Son. This is his reply. Do you 
detect its nature? It is strictly a self-assertion. Himself 
is his reply. Alive through all his being with strong 
good-w ill towards men, with a sense of the Father's infi- 
nite love, and with a triumphant consciousness of his own 
Godlike majesty and worth, he stands forth before his 
critical and deadly foes, and ofiFers himself as his com- 
plete and final answer and defense. But study it again 
as a whole. See how he deals with his calumniators. He 
simply opens the fact -of his own Sonship. the fact of 
God's Fatherhood, the fact of love — these three. See 
how these three agree in one. See how he unveils and 
unburdens the meaning of things. See how simple he is, 
but how deep, and how wise, and how gentle, and how 
strong. See how it all. coheres. Try to pick his answer 
apart, and throw aw^ay som.e part, and keep the rest. It 
cannot be done. Christ's claim of Sonship wnthin God's 



The Master Teacher ji 

Fatherly love enfolds inseparably all he says. His 
answer is a unit. He plants a central bulwark, and thus 
holds all. Love — its Fatherly affluence, its Filial zeal — 
this is all. How plain! How omnipotent! 

(g) But he not only defends and expands and cul- 
minates his claim; he also assails (vv. 33-47). See him 
undo their strength. The witness of John ; the testi- 
mony of my deeds ; the attestation of God ; the words of 
Moses and ancient Scripture — all these substantiate my 
claim. All these you ostensibly respect. But really, the 
evidence of them all you contemn and defy. You part 
from John; you abjure God's word; you murmur at my 
works ; your trust in Moses is not real. The Godly you 
reject. God's honor you ignore. Your real craving is 
for praise of men. You are not of God. 

Now digest this paragraph. Get its gist. It is all in 
V. 44. It is a grave and grievous thrust. But terrible as 
is the blow, it must be struck. These men are charging 
blasphemy. They are ready for his blood. They make 
for the Master's very heart. Such is their assault. 
His counter thrust must be equally direct and to the 
point. Hence he deals two blows: one in self-defense; 
and one in counter assault. He is the filial center of the 
Father's love. They are void of any word or vision of 
God. Such are the power and point pf Christ's defense ; 
and such are the point and power of his attack. In 
both, his majesty stands infinite, shining like the sun. 

3. Now unify the chapter. One benevolent deed; an 
inhuman anxiety about Sabbath regulations ; a zealous 
protestation of copartnership with God ; a verdict of the 
deadly sin of blasphemy ; a counter verdict of ungodly 
eagerness for human praise. This is the chapter entire. 
Who stands for God, Jesus or the Jews? This is the 
whole of it. And it is a whole. The circle is entire. It 
is a sketch in miniature of all the Master's work. He 
stands there glorious, complete. So he teaches. Such 
he is. Do you care to attempt some outline of his figure? 

(a) Note his mood. It is instinct with benevolence. 
Keep that scene of healing in mind. It is the core of 
the Master's strength. It is the very voice of God within 
his life. 



j^ Teacher^Training with 

(b) Fathom his thoroughness. He propounds in- 
stantly his most fundamental claim. His actions hail 
from God. Study his two illustrations — resurrection 
and judgment. Ponder further their weight. 

(c) Look upon his courage. How unflinchingly bold 
that allusion to his destined honor. Such valor is born 
of Truth. And see how he presses the battle to the gate. 
And he left nothing of his undefended, nothing of theirs 
unrebuked. His mettle is ample, and it is all true steel. 

(d) Measure the meaning he puts into Love. It is 
like a law of gravity. It dominates all his being. 

(e) See his mighty jealousy for sincere faith in 
verity. How he glows at the attestations of John, of 
Moses, of God, of his own deeds, as he felt his enemies' 
disrespect ! 

(f) Notice where his strength is lodged. All his 
logic roots in character. He is the offspring of pure 
Love. His nutriment is Truth. Try to undo anything 
he said. You must first despoil his honor. You must 
disprove his origin. As kindly, faithful, well-beloved 
Son of God, he stands unanswerable, invincible. You 
may well spend many a day in the light and atmosphere 
of this scene, if you really seek for skill to teach. 



The Master Teacher jj 



LESSON VI. 

Dealing with Doubt. 

Matt. II : 2-19. 

1. John, (a) Think jdI' his ardent zeal, his moral 
vigor, his fine courage, his burdened, strenuous life, his 
multitudinous following, (b) Think of his formal work 
on Christ in baptism and introduction, and of his self- 
renunciation as the Master's mission grew, (c) Think of 
his imprisonment, and life peril, and lone and long delay. 
(d) Think of his liability to look innocently for greater 
suddenness and brilliancy of outer majesty in the appear- 
ance and work of the Messiah than Jesus actually dis- 
played, (e) Think of the strength and subtlety of temp- 
tation seizing on one's darkest hour and w^eakest point ; 
and of God's mysteries of Providence ; and of the seem- 
ing primacy of wrong. (f) Think how his disciples 
might chafe under the humiliation of their lord ; and thai: 
John may possibly have sent his followers to Christ for 
their sake, and not for his own. 

2. John's inquiry. ''Art thou, or some other one the 
Christ.^" Compute the gravity of this question. Let its 
urgency get full possession of your mind. In its answer 
John's prestige would be shattered or confirmed. And it 
opened into all the meaning of Jewish, Messianic hope. 
It looked toward God. It involved the matter of heav- 
enly revelation. It was a query searching out the way 
to ultimate truth. And for Jesus, it was a challenge of 
his topmost worth, his inmost strength, his uttermost 
authority. Few graver questions could be framed. Do 
you suppose the disciples who brought the query under- 
stood its scope? Were they looking in the right direc- 
tion for a reply? Did you ever study this matter of 
questions? It is worth your thought. Many inquiries 



j^ Teacher-Training with 

were flung up to Christ. Look them up. List their 
precise contents. Mark their actual aim. Then examine 
them again in the light of Christ's replies. 

3. Christ's answer. For reply Jesus wrought a rich 
variety of benefits for men. In dispensing these bene- 
factions he selected the blind, lame, leprous, deaf, dead 
and poor — men from the ranks of the sick, the plagued, 
the demoniacs. This, and only this, is Christ's reply, 
except that he cautions against offense. This done, he 
sends the disciples back to recite to John the things they 
saw. 

Now study this reply. It is Jesus' way, as teacher, of 
giving instruction on a vital theme to these inquiring 
men. Can you gather some hints on how to teach? 

(a) The answer was manifold. Those miracles were 
numerous. Can you master this? Can you get form 
and content apart? The form was those miracles; these 
were plural, various. But how about the content? 
What did they all mean? At heart, was Jesus' answer 
simple or manifold? Did he proffer several themes; or 
did he proffer only one appeal, with several illustra- 
tions? What would you say to this: He demonstrates 
humanity's complete deliverance from woe? Or this: 
He manifests complete, omnipotent compassion for our 
broken lot? Which is the better summary? Just where 
lies their difference? And after all, was it any adequate 
reply to John's inquiry? 

(b) The answer was not direct. It led a devious 
way, from Christ's inner intent, through things external 
and marvellous, through various definite deeds, through 
different and dissimilar witnesses, through oral, second- 
hand accounts, through John's mental ponderings, to its 
final form in John's conclusion. Now what do you say 
to this? Why could Christ not be more explicit and 
direct and precise? Why not answer "y^s" outright? 
But notice Christ's way. What do you think was Jesus* 
teaching theory here? Which is the better, the wisest 
way; to dictate replies, or to draw them out? John 
would have to arrange, and study, and ponder, and inter- 
pret. Thus the real reply to John's question would, in 
a very real sense, be John's own work. Think of this. 



The Master Teacher 35 

(c) The answer is conveyed by reporters. Jesus did 
not go himself. He held aloof, unheard and unseen by 
John. The inquirer had to trust to witnesses. The 
answer was second-hand. And then the report was 
plural. It had a double tongue. There were two to 
observe, two to estimate, two to give the recital. Doubt- 
less their stories diverged. They would not see or hear 
or think or talk in fullest precision alike. Look into this. 
It raises the whole question of the accuracy, honor, 
credibility, discrepancy and personal element of wit- 
nesses. Do you see just where this leads? And remem- 
ber. You are not dealing with the Bible now ; you are 
dealing with Christ. See what you judge his views 
about witnesses to be. 

(d) The answer cautions against offense. Both sides 
of this deserve your thought — the side of John, and the 
side of Christ. Think here. Christ is liable to give 
offense. This demands your eye. Watch him with this 
in view right through his life. See how many times he 
fully expected and bravely proceded to give offense. 
Recall the scene at Nazareth. And John, with other 
men, is liable to take offense. Find illustrations. Study 
sharply the incident offered here. Can you find any irk- 
some element in what the Saviour said or did? What 
was it that moved the Lord to voice that warning word? 
All he said and all he did seems vestured with a beauti- 
ful grace. Why then anticipate offense? Study into 
this. Find out what Jesus was driving at. Read this 
whole chapter with this one thought in mind. Study all 
he says of John — his edged inquiries, his glowing praise, 
his words of mystery, disclosing John's rare eminence, 
and the Jews' abhorrence of his ways. Then study all 
the Master says about himself, and about their disdain 
and spleen in the face of all his friendly grace. They 
voted the Baptist a demoniac, and Jesus a glutton. They 
took stiff offense. Get into this. What is its drift? 
Read all the chapter over. Weigh those pointed hints at 
poverty, and leprosy, and demon-possession, and death, 
and disease, and need. And think. To whom is such talk 
musical? What are the inner implications of Christ's 



j6 Teacher^Training toith 

unpenitent and insincere? Clear and thorough thinking 
here is worth your while. This is no minor incident. 
4. Teaching hints. 

(a) See the Master work into lowliest lives the 
formal demonstration of his heavenliness. 

(b) See how he leaves inquirers to ponder on his 
ways. 

(c) See his supreme respect for man's own judg- 
ment. He leaves his case to John. 

(d) See how he offers a section out of his familiar, 
every-day life as ample answer to an ultimate challenge 
of his mission. He gave nothing novel. Just what had 
been occurring every day was .quite enough. Study 
John 10 : 25. 

(e) Think thus of human dullness ; and of Jesus' 
patience. 

(f) See if you can formulate Christ's philosophy in 
dealing with doubt. 



The Master Teacher jy 



LESSON VII. 

Rest Under Burdens. 

Matt. II : 20-30. 

I. The vital situation, (a) The occasion of Christ's 
comments. He had done many might>' deeds in Chora- 
zin, Bethsaida and Capernaum — deeds that would have 
won ^Tyre and. Sidon and Sodom. But these people 
would not repent. Here rise hard problems. The favors 
of Providence diflFer. Results are strangely variant. 
Fidelity- stands unrewarded. Most lavish labors of love 
are futile. The same labors, done elsewhere, would have 
availed. Do not haste here. Labor to enter into Christ's 
lot. Think of his desires towards these cities. Think 
of his vital outlaj-. Think of his persistence and repeti- 
tion of effort. Think of the point of attack — sins. 
Think of his deep moral abhorrence, and of their evil in- 
sistence. Here is effort, long-drawn, tireless, multiform ; 
and here is opposition, cold, wicked, obdurate. Enter into 
this. Xo distress could be more rending. Do you feel it ? 

(b) Christ's attitude towards God. Study here with 
sympathy. Jesus is in sore trouble. He takes refuge in 
God (\-^-. 25-27). Mark the elements. 

He calls God "Father" and '"Lord." Note each word. 
Set them well apart. Get the weight and meaning of 
each by itself. Then balance them. See their value. 
Providences \-ary, but God is not unkind or unfair; he 
is *Tather." Though his messages are mocked, he is not 
dethroned ; he is "Lord." Study this combination. Those 
two titles are two pillars. They can bear aloft a goodly 
arch of heavenly trust, and steady any soul in any lot in 
perfect quiemess. He speaks of God's "good pleasure," 
freely and gladly conceding that its sovereignty was 
supreme. This is the Master's explicit creed. Note it. 
He sees that God adjusts himself to men, pouring light 



j8 Teacher-Training uith 

into childlike lives, and leaving the scornful and self- 
satisfied to wander in their owti ways. He recalls and 
avows the infinite fullness of sole fellowship of Father 
with Son, and his blessed mission as free revealer of the 
Father's name. He confesses close and utter acquies- 
cence with God in all his free. Fatherly, sovereign, dis- 
cerning rule. Thus Jesus turns from Capernaum to 
God — ^with an eagle eye, with a humble heart, in filial 
unison. 

(c) Now hold these two realities — Christ's deep sor- 
row over Capernaum, and his utter acquiescence in God 
— together. Study them well. In those hard conflicts in 
Capernaum — ^the unrelaxing onset of his infinite strgigth 
upon all wrong, against the unrelenting preference of 
their hearts for willful sin — ^his soul was tossed in an 
inHnite unrest. But in this full and genial fellowship of 
Father and Son his soul is filled with an infinite peace. 
Study these two. Each is a reality. Each sits immense 
within his life. In his true being ever>^hing is gen- 
uine. As he looks upon the costly outlay of his life in 
Chorazin. and sees the awful issue, his anguish is a real 
Gethsemane ; he feels the ver>- torture of the cross. But 
as he takes refuge in God, the compassionate Father, the 
Sovereign Lord, the discerning Judge of all, his anguish 
is all assuaged. 

(d) Here is something worth your keenest watch- 
fulness. Your Master is standing here in the very thick 
of one of the deepest problems of life and thought Do 
you see this? If you fail, you have your deepest lessons 
yet to learn. Review this scene, not aimlessly, but with 
precise design. Persist, until it all stands real. With 
keen mind and compliant heart he abides patiently in 
his place. Examine well your Master here. He is 
teaching by example. He consciously assumes a model 
attitude. He guides the burdened life into rest by adjust- 
ing his own bruised heart to acquiescent trust. He is 
sa>4ng *'Leam of me." And as he speaks he stands 
beneath his own life's mystery and hurt in perfect rest 
of patient trust. 

2. Special aspects of Christ, (sl) Seeming defeat. 
Give this your thought. Jesus is a moral teacher. He 



The Master Teacher J9 

is training followers and co-workers. His aim is utter 
conquest of sin. But in these three cities, where his 
labors had been most profuse, he meets a stiff repulse. 
In such a plight what would you do? Watch Christ. 
He does not modify his claims one whit. No passage 
in all four Gospels swings into a grander strain than he 
voices here. He and the sovereign Father are perfectly 
at one. This experience is no defeat. 

(b) Christ's moral strength. Study that phrase, "They 
repented not." What lay back of that? A crisis. Jesus 
had laid bare their sins. He had outlined and published 
their very life. That discovery was absolute. When his 
work was done, sin stood plain and black. Study, too, 
those words announcing a "judgment" to come. Their 
career is not yet complete. Portentous days are yet to 
come. Then note his comparisons. Sodom and Caper- 
naum do not stand alike. How he discriminates ! Jesus 
is not repulsed. He dominates all the scene, as a moral 
force. 

(c) See his penetration. As he faces the differing 
actions of men. he traces out their roots. Some have 
open minds, like little infants. Note his words. Others 
spurn all counsel, being in their own eyes all-wise. Simi- 
larly he ponders into God's diversities and finds their 
grounds. He is free. Mark this. He is Lord. He is 
Father. He transcends all finite minds. Here are deep 
words. They show a piercing insight. Do you see this? 

(d) The sweep of his mind. His range touches ulti- 
mates. "They repented not." There his labors halt. 
He respects man's choice. Man is free. And yet, watch 
the Master's flight. He speaks of the "judgment." 
Man's impenitence is not the end. Then that phrase, 
"Lord of heaven and earth." Measure it, as Jesus must 
have done. And do not be too eager to hurry on. To 
make haste here is to stand in your old tracks. That 
affirmation about his Sonship and commission. His 
thought here takes far flights into deep interior realms. 
Make some honest effort to follow him. His challenge 
of all who labor. How far abroad does that short sen- 
tence sweep? Here is something of which we ought to 
know. But are you sure you can reach the bounds of 



40 Teacher-Training icith 

his thoughts in your own and your nearest neighbor's 
life? Lay plans for taking time and spending thought 
here. 

(e) The blending of gentleness and strength. As 
Jesus offers himself here, two relations appear. He 
stands over against whole cities, set in stern antagonism. 
But he neither surrenders nor flees. He presents him- 
self to them as a mighty headland, braving all the anger 
of a surging sea. He is kingly strong. Study your 
Lord, as he teaches by example here. He bears the 
world's full shock of sin and need. He stands in impreg- 
nable peace. He holds irresistible control. He offers 
omnipotent aid. He accosts with courtliest grace. Thus 
the Master teaches. He handles royal themes. He 
shows royal art. 

3. Teaching hints. 

(a) "Most'' of his mighty works. How many would 
this be? Why so many? Would they vary? 

(b) He sought ''repentance." This is all. Study 
repentance — how difficult, how repulsive, how essential, 
how primary, how searching. Imagine Jesus making 
some compromise. 

(c) The depth of discord between a teacher battling, 
and a pupil cherishing sin. 

(d) Imagine the last vanishing of hope. 

(e) List Christ's qualities in Capernaum: thorough- 
ness, patience, good-will, respect, consistency, power, 
calmness. 

(f) List Christ's qualities, as he issues his call to 
burdened lives : insight, self-respect, triedness. Godliness, 
lowliness, peacefulness. 

(g) Now combine all these elements, and study the 
combination in its real life, as he stands teaching his fol- 
lowers by his very being, as the kind, true, pure, lowly, 
calm, patient, strong friend of man and Son of God. 



The Master Teacher 41 



LESSON VIII. 

Teaching Mercy to a Pharisee. 

Luke 7 : 36-50. 

I. Realize the scene, (a) Study the Gospel feasts, to 
get clear as to their customs. Gather together out of 
this one paragraph as many distinct details of a feast 
as you can. Get a sense of their ideas of courtesy, of 
their ways of showing respect, of the manner of their 
hospitality. 

(b) Try to reach some opinion about Simon. Look 
into the meaning of his neglect to provide for his 
guest water and oil, and to greet him with any kiss. 
Think how it came about that Simon invited Christ. 
There must have been some close attention and some 
real respect on his part towards Christ. Estimate this 
from Christ's point of view. There was some vantage 
ground for the Master's work during this feast. Yet 
it comes clear that Simon was lacking in deep fellow- 
ship with Christ's views of grace. Study his moral 
attitude. He was a Pharisee. And he was Pharisaic. 
He looked askance at people he called "sinners." He 
had not the Master's eye to see the worth of a broken 
heart. He invited Christ; but in the heart of that invi- 
tation there was no thought of fostering any work of 
saving mercy. But in his welcome of Christ, scant 
though it was, there was involved the presence of this 
''sinner." 

(c) Give attentive heed to the woman. Try to see 
her, as Simon saw her — an outcast, corrupt, unpromising. 
Try to see her, as she saw herself — a wicked, broken, 
worthless life. Tr>' to see her, as Jesus saw her — un- 
clean, but penitent and eager for his mercy. Study the 
power and havoc of her sin. See the beauty already 
evident in her life — her deep respect for Christ, her out- 



^2 Teacher-Training loith 

lay for his sake, her profound humility, her fine cour- 
age, her signs of thoughtfulness. See if sorrow and 
love summit all up. 

(d) Study all the manner of Christ. He honored 
the invitation. He bore quietly the meagerness of his 
host's attentions. He forbore all signs of dislike or sur- 
prise at the woman's humble, costly ministry. He 
studied into the deeps of all he saw. His mind was 
quite as active and quite as accurate as Simon's. Think 
of the Master as winning, and then receiving, and then 
accepting, and then improving this invitation from this 
cool and lofty Pharisee. 

Study the scene over and over. Scan each party. 
Get their inner qualities, their outward appearance, their 
past career, their present standing vividly in view. Feel 
after the life philosophy of each. Fix upon the central 
feature of it all. Was it Simon's moral shock? This 
deserves your thought. You ought to answer it. Only 
so will you see what Christ was driving at. 

2. Christ's instruction, (a) The parable. Here is 
an exquisite gem, if you have eyes to see. But at its 
every turn your insight must be moral. Are you sure 
you know just what this means? To start — can you see 
why Jesus devised a parable? What is its peculiar 
value in the teaching art in general, and in this case in 
particular? Its theme — two debtors. Why "debtors"? 
Why ''two"? Do not rush on. Every word has weight. 

"Nothing to pay." Both were bankrupt. Why bank- 
rupt? Why both? Do you see? How would Simon 
estimate these points? 

"Forgave them both." Why the idea of forgiveness ? 
Why forgiveness for two? Would Simon see the point? 
Do you? "Which of them will love the most?" Why 
a question here? Do not scorn this. It is a vital point 
in teaching. Why, at the vital point, refer the whole 
case to the pupil? Why did he put the question to 
Simon? Why did he center it about "love"? This ques- 
tion involved what? You should not shrink or shirk 
here. Things are getting rather pointed for Simon. Do 
you see this? Just what is the point? After all, which 
way does the point turn? Ponder the whole parable 



The Master Teacher 43 

now. Its outer aspect is perfectly innocent and simple. 
But it can pinch bitterly. And it has sweet solace. It 
so portrays two people that the one who enters the 
scene under the deepest reproach emerges with the 
highest praise. Ponder this. Its skill is peerless. Think 
of the seats at that feast. How did Simon arrange his 
guests? Where would he place himself? How would 
Jesus' teaching rearrange the feast? 

(b) The direct talk to Simon. Note every word. It 
is no parable now. Picture the flash and aim of Jesus' 
eye. Heed the crisp, swift words that kap from the 
edges of his well-trained lips. Trace the sharp precision 
of every single phrase. See how he bids Simon keep his 
eye on the woman, as he sends the terse indictment 
home. And remember, Simon is host, and Jesus is guest. 
"I entered your house. I was bidden in by you. You 
gave me no water. You gave me no kiss. You gave me 
no oil. Now look upon this lowly object of your high 
contempt. See what she does. For want of water she 
uses her tears. For want of a towel she uses her hair. 
Her kisses fall in showers. And in place of oil, she has 
lavished costly ointment. She is a sinner indeed ; and 
her lapses are multiplied. But the tides of her sorrow 
and love are full. She has my costliest favor. Her sins 
are pardoned. But in your scant life, with its little 
love and little grief, is little forgiveness." Surely here 
is teaching that is to the point. Name its traits. 

(c) The word to the woman. According to the 
record, those words are few. But read the whole recital 
through again, with this humble sinner alone in mind. 
Do you judge her blind or deaf? How much of all the 
Saviour said would she appropriate? Those two debt- 
ors — which would she say was meant for her? That 
sentence about forgiveness — how would that be seized 
by her? And then the Master's mention of her kisses 
and precious ointment and bitter tears — and all in 
terms of contrast with Simon's parade of hospitality — 
what message did her heart obtain from this? And 
finally that outright pledge of pardon and the tender coun- 
sel to go her way in peace — do not fail to think how she 
would feel, as she found her loving, contrite heart bathed 



^4 Tcacher^Traininq icitb 

in the light of such instruction in the Saviour's work of 
grace. 

3. Teaching hints. 

(a) See how Christ's influence worked on these two 
people before this feast. His power is finely manifest 
within this scene. But vital factors lie back there in 
former scenes, out of sight. Influence in a teacher's life 
has its roots and growth, as well as its ripened fruit. 

(b) Christ drew about himself opposite sorts. He 
had real breadth. 

(c) Christ's thoughts of men were most distin- 
guishing and distinct. He did not view nor handle all 
alike. 

(d) Trace to its root Simon's error. What was his 
point of view? 

(e) Can you formulate any of Jesus' axioms? What 
was his point of view ? 

(f) Watch the Master's eye. See how he finds big 
meanings in small things. And he noted everything. 

(g) See how Christ drew out of his pupil his funda- 
mental truth. 

(h) Study pupils. In the school of Christ, what 
makes a pupil apt? What makes a pupil dull? With 
Christ as teacher, where lay the difference between 
Simon and the woman, as regards docility? 

(i) See how deeply Christ suffered his life to be 
inserted into other lives, in order to gain a vantage 
ground for teaching. 



The Master Teacher 45 



LESSON IX. 

How Greed for Goods Stifles Souls. 

Luke 12 : 13-21. 

1. Study the case brought to Jesus' hand. It is two 
brothers. Bred of a single sire, reared in a common 
home, they should have lived in mutual, continual love. 
But though of closest common interest, and nearest kin, 
sharers hitherto in a common fund, there somehow 
comes a break. They fail to lovingly agree. The parti- 
tion of the estate seems to be delayed. There lie the 
funds between them. Each is destined to have a share. It 
is the duty of both to agree to divide. Both eye the pile. 
Each sees that its partition is sure to come. But the 
business halts. Either one is over eager ; or the other 
is over slow. Probably the elder brother proscrastinates, 
loving the control of funds, and growing cold towards 
the second-born. But the younger brother hates delay. 
He covets to have his part. He is hot for division. 
Thus comes strife. One hastes. One nalts. One grasps 
to hold it all. One grasps to get his share. Both 
hearts grow heated in the thirst of greed. Towards 
each other both hearts grow cold. They lose the filial 
sense of the father's solicitous care. Forgetful to love 
like brothers, or to be reverent towards a father's wish, 
they stand upon the edge of fratricidal hate. Such is the 
case, such the cause, and such the outlook towards a 
dreadful end. 

2. Jesus' treatment, (a) He declines to arbitrate. 
This seems almost unwise. But search into the Master's 
thought. Why did he refuse? Think deeply here. In 
our day everybody counsels towards such acts of refer- 
ence. Surely the wisdom and honor of Christ would be 
adequate for such a court. But see. Jesus himself 
resists the first approach. And in what he instantly adds 



4^ Teacher'Training with 

we see the reason. He detects the rage of greed in both 
those brothers' hearts. His thought cuts down beneath 
that call for his decision. Such a judgment would effect 
no cure. When two brothers are at odds about a patri- 
mony, and their disagreement amounts to strife, the 
Master's eye detects that the only way to reconcile their 
lives is to cut out all that overgrowth of greed. On this 
conviction is based all the teaching that this lesson 
yields. Now, viewing Jesus as a teacher, were his act 
and attitude correct? In a strictly similar case, would 
you discourage the resort to a referee? Have care here. 
A good deal turns on your reply. 

(b) His caution against covetousness. Sit down 
here and look in upon his words at length. They are very 
few. But measure every one. How direct, how sweep- 
ing, how intense they are ! His theme, covetousness. 
Scan its face. Feel its fire and power. Imagine its 
action, just for once; only one sole outburst of pure 
greed. What is its quality? From what does it spring? 
How does it consort wuth love? When, as here, it 
grasps for material things, how does it affect the spirit 
of man? Did j^ou ever stop to study covetousness? 
Here is your chance. Note well that word "all." It is 
short, but its sweep is boundless. It more than hints 
that greed is manifold and oft recurrent. And it coun- 
sels to be keen, and to keep keen. Detect its varying 
guise. Learn to uncover it every time. Do not suffer 
its action once. Keep resolute against it. Keep alert. 
Keep free from covetousness. Keep forever free. Here 
is fine teaching. Do you see how profoundly wise he is? 
Do you feel how tense he is? Tarry right here. Good 
marks of good teaching are right in sight. 

(c) That pointed hint at the wide difference between 
a man's "life" and his "possessions." Ponder over "life." 
Did you ever define it? Begin right here. Begin by 
contrasting it with "goods." What, deeply what, is the 
difference? Then weigh the word itself. Weigh "life." 
Surely you must not use "death" or "decay" or any 
essential "change" in inventing its definition. It is life. 
It has deep fountains within itself. It is thus essentially 
immortal and free. Follow this up. Think of it as 



The Master Teacher 4y 

Jesus would. Here again is the very rock on which his 
teachings rest. Get your own feet fast on the same 
sure base. 

3. The parable. Scan every feature. Remember its 
occasion. Keep referring it back to those two brothers. 

(a) Note that plethora of goods. Detect their 
nature. They come out of the ground. They are God's 
gift. They are the outcome of man's toil. They are 
life's sustenance. But they are all material, decaying. 

(b) Listen to the farmer's monologue. He gleans 
and garners all ; and as he scans the heaping fruits, his 
palate and his paunch become the eager, happy center 
of his life. He bids his soul relax. He bids his appetite 
awake. He plans for years of long-drawn, steaming 
feasts. He plans for nothing else. He plans to eat, and 
eat, and eat again. The ever recurring call to feast is 
to him the acme of delight. 

But it is also the very emblem of decay. He continu- 
ally hungers again. All his heaped up edibles can never 
make him full. In very fact all his merry round of feasts 
is but a heedless dance with death. All its joys are 
mortal. Its inevitable issue is the grave. 

And all the while his immortal soul subsists unfed. 
To this inner deathless being, this potent, tireless energy, 
he stupidly exclaims, "desist ; relax ; give over work ; 
take thine ease." And to his gross flesh he says, "Do 
nought but eat ; think only of steaming kettles, and brew- 
ing pots, and foaming cups ; wallow in gluttony ; call this 
merriment." And so he also forgets his neighbor's life. 
(Recall the two brothers.) And he ignores his God; he 
stores no wealth with him. Thus the Master paints the 
covetous, the man of greed, the man whose primal care 
is for material goods, the man who is hot for his inheri- 
tance. He forgets his God; he disowns his brother; he 
stifles himself. 

(c) Now face the Master's word, "Thou fool !" Is 
this too rude? Is it unwise? Is it untrue? Do you dare 
condemn it? Would it be your probable retort? If 
not, why not? Have you your Master's sense of the 
havoc and sin of covetousness? This is by no means 
his only reference Would you care to glean from the 



zf8 Teacher-Training icith 

Gospels your Master's relative estimates of soul and 
body, of spiritual and material things, of things decaying 
and things eternal? Possibly surprises await you here. 

(d) And now the lazy, care-free epicure, of a sudden, 
dies — an undeveloped soul forced to face his forgotten 
God. Despite his barns, he stands there beggar-poor. 
For all his piling wealth he has been sternly forced to 
sign a full release. Soul and body have had to part. 
And now he stands in final judgment, stripped and 
starved — an utter bankrupt. Thus he deals with the 
man who gluts his body and starves his heart. Thus he 
handles the man who in his passion for gain falls to 
fighting with his brother. Such is the death of men 
whose barns and feasts eclipse their God and the life to 
come. It is their absolute undoing and defeat. 

4^ Now try to sense the value of the Master's art 
in this teaching scene. 

(a) Get its sum. Greed may never be indulged, not 
even once, nor in any style. Once indulged, no arbitra- 
tion can effect a cure. 

Fully grown, it makes a man a fool, plays havoc with 
fraternity, and sets a soul in poverty before its God. 
Study this. 

(b) Characterize this teaching. Can it compromise 
or relent? Does it fit this case? Is it widely apt? Or, 
would it mostly be out of place? 

(c) How about its thoroughness? He is really deal- 
ing with matters of life and death. Would you have 
detected this in that brother's simple request? 

(d) Christ introduced the word "covetousness." The 
brother introduced the fact. Thus Christ uncovers, 
brings to the eye essentials which our eyes are; prone to 
overlook. 

(e) See the Master's mighty boldness. He stands 
squarely across the path of one of the most eager and 
far-spread passions of human life — the greed for goods. 

(f) Note the fire of Jesus' jealousy for spiritual life 
and growth. Measure his strenuousness against the earn- 
estness of greed. 

(g) Define the skill demanded in any practical hand- 
ling of greed. 



The Master Teacher 49 



LESSON X. 

The Logic of Trust. 

Luke 12 : 22-30. 

1. The occasion. Keep in mind those two brothers 
quarreling over their father's estate. Carefully review 
the parable of the prospered, glutton-farmer. Stay by 
that parable until the Master's ardent soul enkindles 
you. But do not fail to understand the tremendous 
difference in the Saviour's outlook. When fashioning 
that parable of the ''Rich fool," he was trying to break 
down a man's excessive greed for perishing things. In 
this succeeding paragraph the Lord is fully recognizing 
every man's physical need, and arguing most carefully 
to show how all our bodily wants are in the open circle 
of God's intelligent care. The two lessons -need con- 
ning together. 

2. Arguments for trusting God for bodily needs. As 
men face ceaseless calls for food and clothes, their souls 
become commonly distraught. They are prone to fret 
away their peace. But all that worry is vain. And it 
has no ground. Men should live in Godly trust. 

(a) The "life" is more than "meat." The "body" is 
more than "raiment." Here is a mighty argument. It 
finely illustrates a prevalent quality in Jesus' teaching 
art. He goes to the roots. Pursue his thought. You 
who sweat and haste and fret in face of hunger for fear 
that food will fail, think of your body, of your being, 
your life. This is the fundamental thing. But this is 
no product of your anxiety and toil. It is the handi- 
work of God. He creates man's body. Here he holds 
an absolute monopoly. Think into this. No mortal 
can by any expense of carefulness spin a single nerve, 
or kindle in the living eye a single flash of light. But 
God can carve the shoulder, mould the thigh, build up 



^o Teacher-Training icith 

the neck, design the head, expand the kings, coil up the 
tireless muscles of the heart, weave the tingling nerves, 
lay channels everywhere for tides of vital blood, teach 
every organ when to call for food, when to say enough, 
how to deal with waste, when to wake to effort, when to 
sink to rest. God, and God alone, builds up and finishes 
the human frame. Its stature and symmetry are all 
designed by him. The wisest, mightiest man is too 
weak and ignorant to cleave and double a single cell. 
Man can never build an eye, nor plant an ear. God does- 
it all. Such is your body ; such your life. He w^ho 
employs such transcendent skill and might to frame the 
marvellous complex of the human frame, will surely lay 
within easy reach all suitable attire, and reward all 
worthy toil with convenient food. 

(b) God feeds the birds that neither sow nor reap 
nor own a single barn. From cankering care their little 
lives are wholly free. They never hoard ; but they never 
fret or fear. The distant day and the distant need lie 
all beyond their ken. They never know what anxious 
worry is. Each day, though filled with busy search, is 
also filled -with song. They are lively messengers to 
men of lifelong, unflecked happiness under the sleep- 
less thoughtfulness of God. The Father ever feedeth 
them. But men outrank the birds. Then men should 
cease to fret, and learn to trust in God. 

(c) God decks each lily in the field, though they 
never sow, and never spin. And when the heavenly 
work is done, no earthly robe, not even Solomon's, can 
match their web or hue. And yet their bloom and text- 
ure fade and perish in a day. But man outranks, and 
far outlasts the grass. Far more surely then will he 
have beautiful attire. Most surely, then, should each 
immortal child of God forego to fret lest he should go 
unclad. 

(d) To fret is futile anyway. Try it. Try it in the 
matter of your size, your height, the fixed destiny of 
your days. Add one cubit, if you can. It is all beyond 
your hand. It has all been fixed by God. If now, in 
such rudiments, you are totally impotent, why do you 
become distraught in things that will surely ensue? 



The Master Teacher 5/ 

(e) Then, finally, he who feeds the birds, and beau- 
tifies the fields, and knits your frame, and sets the 
number of your days, is not a cold, far-off, unheeding 
Lord. He is your Father. You have a first-hand title 
to his faithfulness. Make room for this. He is your 
Father, omnipotent, affectionate, all-wise. Cast all your 
care on him. 

3. Studies. Here is a masterly illustration of Christ's 
teaching skill. Keep in mind the background : — those 
unfraternal brothers; that feasting, lazy fool, summoned 
suddenly to his tomb ; the universal anxiousness of men 
about far-distant needs. In all those scenes he sees a 
beautiful, deathless soul of a precious child of God 
stifled and submerged by waves of wicked worldliness. 
He longs to lift it out and give it light and air and lib- 
erty. Closely watch, as he unclusters the twisted coils 
of care, unclasps the troublesome grip of fear, unseats 
the rule of greed, and sets the spirit free to live, prima- 
rily and without restraint, for God. 

(a) See how he limits his round of thought to dress 
and food. What do you think of this? Has he included 
within these tw^o all essential grounds of care? Or was 
it his aim to mention those most fundamental? Or 
would he design these two to illustrate some numerous 
list of proper needs and likely cares? Is the force of his 
thought all the same, whatever way you answ^er these 
three questions? Bring your mind to answer this. It is 
essential, before you begin to teach with independent 
mind upon this theme. 

(b) How general is the fault which Christ here 
assails? Are you likely to meet it nowadays ? 

(c) Study the form of his teaching. Is it Syrian, 
or local, or any way antique? Or is it as truly Ameri- 
can, world-plain, and up-to-date? Can you separate 
form from substance here? 

(d) What do you think of the teaching value of his 
use of birds and grass? Could you frame his argument, 
and leave them out? Where lies the logic of that "much 
more"? Is there any meaning in the fact that flowers and 
birds are incapable of anxiety? Upon what does the argu- 
ment rest, their care-free nature or their lesser worth? 



5^ Teacher 'Training with 

(e) Now draw out the actual thread of Jesus' argu- 
ment. Can you frame it into a syllogism? 

(f ) He takes it for granted that God feeds the birds. 
Do you agree? If not, why not? Does your Father 
clothe the grass? Are your convictions here as clear 
and calm as Christ's ? If not, can you hope to teach 
like him? 

(g) What is Jesus' estimate of man, as uncovered 
here? Is his aim here to restrict, or to exalt our life? 
Look into that allusion to Solomon's attire. It was 
surely glorious. But it was eclipsed by the finer beauty 
of the swiftly fading fields. iVnd we outrank the 
grass. Think carefully here. Just what is Jesus' 
thought? What is the grade of the human ideal which 
inspires and moulds his teaching art? What would he 
have us do with a sainted father's goods? How would 
he have a wealthy farmer live? Do not lazily refuse to 
think. Does your ideal of man have equal clearness, 
beauty and worth with Christ's? What bearing has 
this upon your teaching? 



The Master Teacher 53 



LESSON XI. 

Meaning of a Meal with a Publican. 

Luke 5 : 27-32. 

1. Gather together all Gospel allusions to publicans. 
Define, as nearly as you can, their occupation. Form an 
idea of the sort of man most likely to get into such a line 
of work. Imagine the manners and methods of such 
officials, as they go about their duties. Think how their 
employment would react upon their character. Tr>' and 
describe somewhat minutely a t>^pical publican. He 
would be a cold, hard, shrewd, powerful, strong-willed, 
coin-loving deputy and domineer, versed in law, quick 
to scent evasion, well-practiced in a bitter role of rigid 
words. To the Jews, from whom he wrested funds, he 
would seem a despicable traitor and a soulless leach, 
draining the veins of Palestine to feed the strength of 
Rome. They stood for the righteousness of Roman 
rule ; won honor out of Jewish shame ; and rioted in 
their countr>''s defeat. They were hence hotly despised, 
and barred from social standing among good and loyal 
Jews. 

2. The Saviour's attitude. For the study of Jesus' 
position towards the publicans this lesson is a classic. It 
is a signal case of teaching by example. It is worth 
your choicest thought. 

(a) He calls Matthew to the Apostolate. Ponder 
this well. A publican among the apostles I That simple, 
single fact, standing out in open sight, wherever Jesus 
led his train, though not a word of comment or explana- 
tion should leave the Master's lips, would publish a well- 
read volume of weighty truth. Here alone is a price- 
less hint for teachers. Think here of Jesus* unspoken 
thoughts. Honor this suggestion. Write out what you 
feel sure Jesus meant. 



54 Teacher-Training icith 

(b) Such a fact as Matthew's plain discipleship of 
Christ could not avoid grave sequels. Matthew would 
have his friends. Matthew would have his influence. 
The Master's word to him was a summons to be leader 
of a long-drawn file of his familiars. Jesus soon found 
himself adjudged a "friend of publicans." Think well of 
this. Think of it as Matthew felt it, and as it was hailed 
and cherished by his publican friends. Here is vital 
teaching vitally at work. Study to see its art. Search 
to find its power. 

(c) See its most natural development, when Matthew 
makes a feast. Command some leisure here and do some 
studying. What would Matthew's primary motive be? 
Doubtless to honor Christ. But see that friendly motive 
work. It makes the feast stand thick with publicans. 
But scarcely anything could happen more certain to set 
the Saviour in reproach ! Now study this. Study it 
from Matthew's point of view. Study it from the 
Saviour's. Study it as it would seem to those respect- 
ful publican guests. What has Jesus done? Most clear 
instruction is surely well afoot. But, state with good 
precision, just what does this wordless lesson contain f 
Can you tell ^ W^ill you ? 

(d) Follow up this last inquiry. Examine the 
Master here. He does not decline the feast. Of course 
not. He cannot. But what results? He merges in their 
life his full identity. Here is a matter j^ou do well to 
ponder. Think of the meaning of an oriental feast. 
Think then of the Saviour's genuineness. Enter deeply 
into this. Where did Jesus place himself by this simple 
act? How would it be understood? What would all 
onlookers surely learn? Now see Jesus enter fully in, 
and nobly take his proper place in this glad, festal fel- 
lowship. With what profound appreciation of the mean- 
ing of his courtly act does he recline where Matthew 
leads, a courtly publican on either hand ! Think of the 
quiet beauty of that act. Surely here is an open procla- 
mation of the Saviour's mind. Now can you declare 
how fully this gracious deed voices all the burden of the 
Saviour's heart? Is this a fitting question right here? 
Can you fittingly decline to employ your nicest art to 



The Master Teacher ^^ 

fashion a deeply respectful reply? It may lead you 
closer than you think to the very marrow of the message, 
and the very genius of the teaching art of Christ. 

3. But now, that criticism (v. 30). Look into it well. 
At exactly what does it strike? 

(a) Be as precise as you wish. Note its very terms : 
''Why do you eat and drink with publicans and sinners?" 
Eating with men ! Work into this. Can you name any 
human act more primarily human and everlastingly 
proper than this? Dismiss your other engagements and 
bide awhile just here. Jesus ate with publicans. On 
any ground, by any code, can you define any flavor of 
impropriety here? But to these scribes and pharisees 
there was some trespass of good decorum in Jesus' act. 
Now take their place and make accurate explanation of 
their offense. Keep strictly to Christ's act — eating with 
his fellow-men. The problem here may be more difficult 
than you think. But solve it. What ailed those phari- 
sees? Do not frame your answer negligently. Be 
closely minute and fit your answer to the actual case — 
Jesus eating with his fellow-men. Many copartnerships 
with men are wrong. But eating with them — where is 
the fault in that? 

(b) Those pharisees and scribes would have set the 
Master and those publicans decisively apart. They 
would have blocked his going in. All festal fellowship 
they would have denied. They would have built up im- 
passable barricades and issued rigid rules of caste and 
class partition. Stated positively, this is their code. 
Now are you disposed to look down into this? Get in 
sight of their interior thought. Point out their social 
principles. It is worth your while. Put it this way: 
just what did Jesus override, when he broke bread with 
men called publicans? What issues on either side are 
here at stake? 

(c) They overlooked Matthew's discipleship. Jesus 
called the man to follow him. What lay in that appeal ? 
Matthew openly, instantly obeyed. What lay in that 
response? To this these critics paid no heed. That was 
a fatal, shameful oversight. Jesus was blameless and 
holy. Matthew, in admiring love, left all to follow him, 



5 6 Teacher-Training with 

He was the Saviour's devotee. This feast was a princely 
token of his affectionate respect. Think for a little of 
the stupid rudeness of these scribes. 

(d) Think somewhat similarly of their brutal heed- 
lessness of the tender love of Christ in this onslaught 
on that feast. Their act was more uncivil than they 
knew. 

4. Jesus* answer, (a) Note the figure — a physician. 
Did you ever try to see just what qualities, peculiar to a 
physician, belong to Christ? Look into this. Then 
look further. Wherein does Christ, as a physician, 
transcend all other members of that class? 

(b) The sick. Were you ever "sick"? Can you 
sympathize just here like Christ? How deep and true 
and broad is his compassion? How broad is the word 
itself? Imagine a publican and a pharisee, both sick. 
What would be the difference — in the eye of the phari- 
see ; in the eye of the publican ; in the eye of Christ ; in 
fact? How apt a form of answer is this? How ade- 
quate is it? But the allusion is of course to ''sin." Put 
this word in each question above. 

(c) Repentance. Here is a trenchant thrust. It 
points straight to wrong-doing. It probes towards con- 
science. It signals a prime duty. It invites towards 
righteousness. Frame a list of questions like those 
above with "repentance" in their midst. 

5. Teaching hints. 

(a) Bearing in mind the breadth of Christ's mercy, 
define the part that Matthew had in making Christ's 
message known. Wherein did he and Christ co-operate? 
Wherein did Matthew stand original and alone in pub- 
lishing, by the fellowship of this feast, Christ's love? 

(b) Name some of the special values of a feast, as a 
teaching aid. 

(c) Think of Christ's teaching aims, when he chose 
Matthew. What could he do as teacher under Christ, 
that others could not do so well ? 

(d) Compute the difficulty of broadening a narrow 
man, of conciliating a prejudiced man, of humbling a 
lofty man, of winning to repentance a self-righteous 
man. 



The Master Teacher 57 



LESSON XII. 

True Food for Immortals. 

John 6 : 26-58. 

I. The Case, (a) Make an orderly list of the events. 
Jesus had wrought the wonder of feeding the 5000 men 
with five loaves. They set out to make him king. 
Repulsed in this, they seek his presence and court his 
favor the following day. He upbraids them for blind- 
ness to the meaning of his work, accuses them of carnal 
greed, and counsels them to do the *Vork" of faith in 
him as the messenger of God (vv. 26-27). They ask 
him for a sign to prove his right to speak for God, a 
sign to match the manna Moses had (v. 30). When 
Christ denied to the manna any heavenly origin or the 
power of life, and proffered himself as life-giving bread 
from heaven, in one breath they called to be fed with 
such bread (v. 34) ; and in the next they fell to mur- 
muring at his heavenly claim (v. 41), and prated about 
their full acquaintance with Joseph and his mother (v. 
42). Then, when Jesus chided them, and cited the death 
of all the fathers, despite the manna (v. 49), and re- 
avowed his heavenly origin, and roundly renewed the 
claim that his flesh was the very bread of life, the multi- 
tude, finding their stomachs still unfed, disowned his 
lead, and many of his disciples took offense and turned 
apostate (v. 66). 

(b) Here are grievous errors. Can you list them? 
They missed the meaning of the miracle of the loaves. 
They blundered about the manna. They were stupidly 
dull to Jesus' hint about God's "work" (v. 29), and 
"this" bread (v. 34). They had no eye to see into his 
heavenly origin. They had only carnal views about his 
parentage. His talk about his "flesh" as food was to 
their intellects only an annoying puzzle. A hungry 



5<S Teacher-Training iciih 

stomach, a physical lineage, a palpable sign — here are the 
center and circuit of their lives. Around such a low 
arena their carnal notions jogged. 

(c) Here is the Master's task. His thoughts were 
pure, spiritual, heavenly. He was trying to teach the 
deathless sons of God to cherish undying, undecaying 
things. And to accomplish this he was always proposing 
liimself. In him the immortal spirit reigned supreme. 
In him w^as eternal life. 

But these people were absolutely gross, unheavenly, 
unrefined. Their clamor was only for things they could 
forthwith see and feel and eat. Now what must Jesus 
do? This is no light question. Men are pitifully un- 
heavenly. This is the rule. And in just this scene 
comes up the sharpest crisis in Jesus' life. It is at once 
an acute, and a representative case. Wise w^ould-be 
teachers will scan his course. 

2. Jesus' method, (a) He forces the issue. It could 
have been avoided. He might have fed that crowd 
again. This fact is pregnant. Study into the Master's 
wisdom. What was his theory of teaching, as shown by 
this? What w^as his aim? Do you see that this last is 
the primary question? Look into this. 

(b) He makes the issue sharp at the start. Study 
v. 26. Do you commend this ? 

(c) He pointed to an inner meaning in that miracle 
of loaves. Study v. 26 again. "Not because ye saw 
signs" — what does this mean? Those people missed 
something. Will you digest this? It has big meaning 
for teachers. 

(d) He reminds them that yesterday's bread was 
"perishing." You call this a homely commonplace. But 
wait. What brought that multitude a second day? 
Void stomachs. That was all. Will you linger here? 
By what motives are the multitudes moved? Do you 
care to term this a slight affair for teachers? 

(e) He speaks of "meat" that "endureth" (v. 27). 
Do you feel the w^eight and poin^ of this? It is the 
key and pivot of the whole discourse. It is the central 
burden of the Master's talk and work. And this chap- 
ter is a royal place to study it. It has infinite meaning 



The Master Teacher 59 

for all who teach for Christ. Was it wisely mentioned 
to such a crowd? This is a sovereign question. To 
slight it is to treat weightiest things as trivial. 

(f) He bids them "work" for this "abiding" food. 
And when they blindly question what he means, he 
urges "faith" in him whom heaven sent. Will you bal- 
ance those two words, ''work" and ''faith"? Do they 
mean alike? What do they mean? Read those verses 
(28-29) over and over. The "work," the "faith," the 
"sealed," the "sent," the "eternal life." They all con- 
verge in Christ. And in him the essential element is 
"life." And this "life" he sets in definite contrast with 
"perishing" food. "Life" in Christ, against "decaying" 
food. This is all. But could they comprehend that 
"life"? Can you? This is just the point. Do you really 
see it? There is nothing else in the whole chapter. Can 
you show it? If you can, you have gone far to compre- 
hend all Jesus ever did or said. Here is something 
straight. Are you, as a teacher, ready to face it? 

(g) Now the talk takes a momentous turn. It 
exactly fits those men. But for the thought of Christ 
the misfit is complete. They ask a "sign" ; and to sup- 
port their claim they cite the manna. If you know your 
day, here is something you will mark. Christ is hand- 
ling invisible things. Rehearse them. He makes high 
claims. To win our "faith" in things like that, he 
should offer in evidence solid proof, something open to 
our outer eye, something like the manna Moses had. So 
these men retort. Now ponder this. It leads to the 
very pith and point of the whole stupendous debate. 

(h) Jesus declines. Now watch his argument. First, 
he denies that the manna came from heaven (v. ^t-)- 
Then, all who ate of it died (v. 49). It was itself a 
decaying thing. It had to be daily renewed. Hunger 
daily recurred. It and all who ate it have perished from 
the earth. Just so with the five loaves yesterday. All 
such food "perishes." It is not the bread of "life." Such 
perishing "signs" in such a perishing realm are not suffi- 
cient to embody evidence of the "eternal life" that wells 
in me. For this you need a different eye, a different 
sense, a different evidence. 



6o Teacher-- Training loith 

(i) Ahd then he proffers himself again (v. 32), and 
again (v. 35), and again (v. 40), and again (v. 44), and 
again (v. 48), and again (v. 51), and again (v. 54), as 
the imperishable food of imperishable souls, nourishing 
them to ''eternal life." His "sign" is himself, the 
heaven-born, heaven-sealed, imperishable, life-giving 
and ultimate Saviour of the world. Will you take the 
honest pains to read these cited verses and all that inter- 
venes, and make minutest mention of the Saviour's every 
form of speech? And then will you con them over and 
over, until you clearly see how fully they all agree in 
one? You could do no better work, if you really wish 
to worthily teach. Feel your way into his inmost wish. 
Then see how varied is his form of words. Thus mark 
the "what" and the "how" of his heavenly art. 

3. Estimates. 

(a) Define again the nature of this debate. What 
is up? 

(b) Is this same discussion widely agog to-day? 
What are its themes and forms? 

(c) Just what value have the miracles of the manna 
and the loaves? 

(d) Define some evidence or "sign" of eternal life 
that will be complete? Was it accessible in that scene? 

(e) Keeping in mind Jesus' inner thought, did that 
multitude, standing as they did in Jesus' immediate pres- 
ence, have any advantage over us? Do you deem this 
question worth your while? Will you give it what you 
deem its due respect? 

(f) Do you think it was possible to win those men 
to the Saviour's point of view? 

(g) This marks a serious crisis in the Master's life. 
Christ being what he is, is such a scene avoidable? 

(h) What teaching qualities are outstanding here? 
He adhered to things spiritual, eternal, heavenly. Do 
these three terms point out teaching traits? Do they 
point to three? Name others. 



The Master Teacher 6i 



LESSON XIII. 

Ethics and Etiquette: Which Holds Primacy? 

Mark 7 : 1-23. 

1. Study vv. 1-5. The case in hand is the Jewish 
habit of washing hands. This is a formaHty upon which 
they insist, before ever they eat. This custom is one of 
a large class. It has come down to them from their 
fathers as a traditional rule. This rule certain of 
Christ's followers ignored. " This seemed to certain 
Pharisees and scribes a reproachable neglect. They make 
the matter the subject of a complaint to Christ. This 
is the incident in particular. But it is typical. Gather 
from the Gospels other illustrations of strict formalism. 
Try to find their point of view. How do such formalities 
get to be habitual? Then how do they become so strin- 
gent? Try to enter into this. Such regnant customs 
have their grounds. 

(a) Examine the relation of formality to tradition. 
This rule about washing hands came down to them from 
the "elders." It had authority. It bound. It had 
become a duty. It was a moral obligation. Neglect was 
an immorality. This was their point of view. 

(b) Examine the outcome of this view of life. It 
supplanted true morality. Intent upon outer forms, it 
lost sight of inner qualities. 

(c) It led up to a quarrel with Christ. They impli- 
cated him in blame. They did not shrink from challeng- 
ing him by direct assault. 

2. Now study vv. 6-8. Here stands Christ's first 
reply. Look closely to his interpretation of their view of 
life. 

(a) He charges up hypocrisy. Study those words 
from Isaiah. It deals with verbal honor, and absent 
hearts in their attitude towards God. ''Words" abound, 



6 2 Teacher^Training with 

but the heart is not in them ! And this, when addressing 
God ! Here is a pungent retort. Why did he set in 
with such severity? What were they atf Do not dis- 
miss this question. It leads near to the heart of the 
teaching art. Were his inquirers hypocrites? Was his 
answer apt ? 

(b) Now look again. Read vv. 7-8. His central 
thought is hum.an rules. These people revere men's tra- 
ditions. This manward habit of respect is so dominant 
that God's law is spurned and his worship becomes 
inane. Mark thi-s. As the Lord goes oh, he does not 
become more mild. His words are yet more trenchant 
and severe. Bring up again those questions asked above. 
Ask and answer every one. 

(c) Now describe these pharisees as they stand re- 
flected in the Lord's reply. They are wordy, heartless 
hypocrites, adoring God wuth empty phrase, abjuring 
his holy law, adhering instead with mimic reverence to 
hoary injunctions of men. This is bitterly cruel, if 
undeserved. Read the whole scene again. Who are 
these men ? What are they designing to effect ? Keep 
at this until your answer, in some sort, grows clear. In 
any case note two essential signs : They are making a 
drive at Christ ; who are the men that would be apt to 
be up to the like of that? And the center of their con- 
cern is a matter of washing hands ; what sort of men 
would be apt to be exercised about the like of that? 
Think well into this. Describe the difference between 
these men and Christ. They scan hands, cite human 
rules, and make light of God. He scans hearts, cites the 
divine law, and brings God to the front. Follow this 
out. 

3. Now study vv. 9-13. Christ has set the battle. 
Now he drives it to the gates. 

(a) He cites the law of God, that men should honor 
parents. Then he quotes their custom, which makes that 
ordinance null. Then he adds, "many such like things 
ye do." Now what is the Master's aim? Thus far he 
has scored hypocrisy and such respect for human rules as 
uncrowns the law of God, but citing no definite case. 
Now he brings in an illustration. But mark it narrowly. 



The Master Teacher 6j 

It illustrates just what? Study it and frame a careful 
answer. It is worth your while. Then, having accu- 
rately fixed its ainiy will you estimate its force f As an 
illustration, how powerfully does it tellF First mark its 
point. Then measure its power. In fact it is a most 
flagrant case of perversion of moral life. Children, by a 
trick of words, may impoverish their parents! This is 
one of their much revered "traditions." But however 
hoary or reverend, to any man of any filial sense, of any 
moral honesty, with any true respect for God, such a 
rule as that excites nothing but intense abhorrence. To 
such an issue Jesus leads their case. 

(b) Now think. The discussion opened over un- 
washed hands. It closes over unfilial sons. Ponder this. 
How has this transition come about? Just how? Track 
the conversation through. Find its explanation. Detect 
its art. Where does its secret lie? Think again. Are 
those unclean hands and those unkind sons, after all, so 
far apart in this line of thought? Can you show how 
the former leads to the latter — in the thought of Christ? 
Try this. It may unlimber your teaching talent more 
than you suspect. 

(c) And now think again. Those critics aimed to 
make a point. Has Jesus left or held that point? Have 
positions shifted? Their onslaught aimed at what? It 
has issued where? 

And wherein lies the Saviour's mastery? Has he 
a nimbler skill? Or is his insight keener? Or is he 
more shrewd in dialectics? Or is it after all nothing 
other than undisguised straightforwardness? And as 
the issue clears, which party shows the truer moral 
sense? State, about as the critics would, the sum and 
force of their moral assumption, as they entered this 
little affray. Then state 3^our own estimate of how those 
moral assumptions were bedraggled at the end. 

(d) Think through this all again, to see how resist- 
less the Saviour is. And observe where his power lay. 
It was all and wholly due to his pure, pristine, undamp- 
ened moral sense. This made him quick. This made 
him strong. This made him keen. 

4. Master, vv. 14-23. (a) Observe Christ's strenu- 



6 4 Teacher^Training with 

ousness. He calls the throng up to him "again." Get 
a sense of his eagerness. Name other signs of it here. 
What does it mean ? What value has it for a teacher ? 

(b) Mark that epigram in v. 15. It puts the whole 
contention in a nutshell. Do you see its two themes — 
physics and ethics ? Do you really see this, as the Master 
saw it? It is really very homely. But that man who 
sees and feels and voices the sentiment that same 
homely epigram contains, as Jesus did, has attained to 
high and rare refinement in the art of teaching men. 
That simple verse is vast with meaning. Men are rigid 
with their rules as to how they eat; but they are reckless 
as to how they talk. 

(c) But the very disciples failed to understand. Be 
wary here. But be plain. The best of teachers in their 
plainest statements may have to reiterate and explain. 
Few scenes are more illuminating than this for an honest 
teacher's open eye. 

5. Teaching hints. 

(a) Isaiah and Jesus faced cases closely alike. Is 
this an accident? 

(b) Think what it means to be a hypocrite. 

(c) Think what it means to put etiquette above 
ethics. 

(d) Think of the possibility in the human heart for 
defilement. 

(e) Think how obtuse a man can be. 

(f ) State precisely the bearing of all this on teaching. 



The Master Teacher 65 



LESSON XIV. 

True Candidates for Majesty. 

Matt. 18 : 1-6. 

1. Get clear conception of the case. The disciples are 
peering into the kingdom, wondering whose power is 
to be pre-eminent. Observe: (a) The central place of 
the kingdom in their thoughts. Plainly Christ had 
made that theme eminent. 

(b) Their idea of the nature of the kingdom. They 
had their eye on a set of external features. They were 
scanning through a system of gradations of rank. 

(c) Their central motive was imworthily selfish. 
They were craving for evident dignity, majesty, author- 
ity over others. 

(d) They still deferred to Christ. He did dominate 
their lives. Study all this closely to see what was astray 
in their thoughts or words — in ideal, in self-judgment, 
in judgment of others, in understanding of the nature 
of the kingdom. This is surely requisite to any true 
judgment of Christ's reply. 

2. In response, the Master sets a little child among 
them. And over that little child he utters a few words 
that for pure originality, bright insight, and fine daring 
stand unparalleled. The teacher, who w'\\\ explore their 
interior wealth and take notice of their incomparable 
art, is on the main path towards highest teaching skill. 
For a first step set each element well and clearly by 
itself. 

(a) Men, adults, need reforming. They are per- 
verted, and need turning back. And this distortion is 
not a trivial incident in their life. It is fatal. Except it 
be set straight, they cannot enter the kingdom at all 
(v. 3). 

(b) Men can become as little children. Look at this 



66 Teacher-Training with 

both ways. There is something normally manly in a 
child. There is something normally childlike in a 
man. Here is a deep look. Peer into it. 

(c) This childlikeness in a man is in the normal 
man a radical trait. Therein inheres his fitness for the 
kingdom. That lacking, his unfitness for the kingdom 
is absolute. 

(d) Having an eye to detect this heavenly quality in 
the normal child is primary evidence that one is a true 
disciple of Christ (v. 5). 

(e) Within this normal child the primal excellence is 
humility (v. 4). Here is our key word. Study it. What 
does childlike humility show ? A little child is naturally, 
essentially humble, modest, shy. He is by his nature, as 
a child, when the childlike has free and normal play, 
instantly and permanently and perfectly docile. He is 
essentially incomplete, immature, and so acquisitive and 
open to receive. He has an inherent proclivity to trust. 
He has a keen sense of majesty, wonder, high things. He 
has a beautiful, instinctive, spontaneous, model appreci- 
ation of things superior. He knows and illustrates 
ideally a healthy awe. All these are aspects of humility, 
charmingly native, graceful, and full grown in a little 
child. This central and far-w^orking trait in children 
Christ commends, and that with impressive seriousness, 
to adults. Humility is a prime, main essential. It is a 
fundamental propriety. And its charm hever fails. 
Should it ever vanish from any man, that man is unfit 
for the kingdom of heaven. Essentially and forever man 
is a child. Lowliness is a permanent, radical value. 

(f) But see the other side. Mark the Saviour's 
unfailing balance. He who humbles himself, like a little 
child, that man is great in the kingdom of heaven. Note 
that word ''great." How the Master arouses aspira- 
tions ! Greatness is man's goal. Ambition is normal. 
High longings, when purged and guided right, shall be 
satisfied. Humanity has royal worth. Real majesty 
should be craved by all. Only seek it in real humility. 
Scan well the Saviour's jealousy here. Weigh every 
word in v. 6. These humble little ones may never be 
''offended." Read over the words of that doom : "Sunk" 



The Master Teacher ^ 

in the "depth" of the *'sea," by a ''millstone," one that is 
"^reat," "hung" about his "neck." Here is something 
intense. It is awful. Get its force. But keep alert. 
Every syllable is keyed to the value of humble little ones. 
There is in every lowly man and in every normal child 
an infinite worth. They may even stand as valid repre- 
sentatives of Christ (v. 5). They may fittingly aspire 
to majestic heights. Thus it is only a false ambition 
that Jesus rebukes. A true ambition, the sort that flour- 
ishes so beautifully in every normal child, may have a 
healthy birth and splendid growth in every human life. 

(g) This dignity is democratic. Any man may gain 
it. Mark and weigh and see the outlook of that word 
"whosoever" in v. 4. The dignities of the heavenly king- 
dom are not exclusive. Do some thinking here. As the 
disciples were arguing it out, they used a definite singu- 
lar : "who" shall be "greatest"? In their scheme, there 
was room at the top for only one. As Christ framed his 
response, there is room at the top for all. "Whosoever" 
— walk round about that word. 

3. Now search this lesson through, taking as a candle 
the title set at its head. Follow it up until you can 
formulate sharp estimates of Christ's teaching art. 

(a) How significant a theme does this lesson pre- 
sent? Get a clear sense of its need and of its gravity. It 
handles eternal destinies. One must understand it, or 
fail of the kingdom. 

(b) Look into those disciples. How unchildlike, how 
grasping, how misguided, how unfit for the kingdom, 
how untaught they were ! How unapt men are to catch 
Christ's temper, and tone, and point of view ! Think of 
this. Think of the meaning to a teacher of a pupil's 
proclivity to handle a great theme in a small way.. 

(c) Explore a little the mind of Christ here. Can 
you catch his feeling? Do you detect any access of 
strenuousness, any burst or energy of earnestness? 
Weigh that "millstone." There were two sizes : one 
turned by hand, and one worked by a mule. Christ 
chose the latter— a "great" millstone. Ponder this. 
Then his state of mind, as he drew in that little child — 
what were his feelings then, do you think? Then study 



68 Teacher'Training with 

just here the main propensities of Christ's mind. He 
had a "little" child. Think of the meaning to a pupil of 
a teacher's proclivity to handle a little thing in a large 
way. 

(d) State to yourself the value for good teaching of 
selecting an illustration from life — and then from child 
life. That is, try to construct this same lesson, omitting 
the child. 

(e) Look into the composite character of Christ's 
answer. His answer was a child. But think how much 
a child includes. As an object of study, it is by no 
means simple. Christ offers it as an answer. But that 
answer it requires a Master to explain. At first thought, 
it all seems open and simple. But second thought shows 
that nothing could be more profound. And still, how 
perfectly adequate and apt, as an object lesson for those 
disciples ! 

(f) Reflect upon Christ's instantaneous, complete 
understanding of the whole problem, the instant he laid 
his hand upon that child. The whole truth flashed all 
its light at once upon his eye. What a mighty factor 
in a teacher's work ! 

(g) Appreciate how Christ showed the truth. He 
did not reply by a bald, dogmatic authority. He called 
into play upon their query their own connected thought. 
In a way he left it to them. 



The Master Teacher 69 



LESSON XV. 

The Deeps of Forgiveness. 

Matt. 18 : 21-35. 

I. Peter's inquiry. One should review this whole 
chapter to see how Peter came to put this question to 
Christ. Read it all repeatedly. Keep asking questions, 
such as these : Was Peter seeking his own ease and 
peace, or his brother's good? Was he studying the 
value of forgiveness, or his own dignity? Was he 
largely generous, or largely jealous in his mood? Was 
his outlook towards self-denial, or towards self-defense? 
Had he been watchfully admiring the fullness of the 
mercy of Christ, or was he largely insensible to its 
wealth and grace? Was his inquiry the outgrowth of 
forbearance or resentment? Weigh his every word. 
That word "sin": "How often shall my brother sin 
against me?" How did that word leave his lips? Then 
that word ''forgive" : "and I forgive him." Ponder 
this. His eye is on his brother's sin, repeated sin ; then 
it is on forgiveness, repeated forgiveness. Which term 
most likely held his heart most vigorously? Now study 
that phrase that follows — his own suggestion of a reply : 
"till seven times." Get his temper. Does the very 
wording and phrasing of his inquiry give any hint? Do 
you suppose that prospect of ''forgiving" a brother's 
"sin" till "seven" times was any way engaging? Would 
it seem an irksome, or a welcome act? Does his ques- 
tion suggest eagerness or reluctance? What was Peter's 
drift? Where did Peter stand? What was Peter's need? 
Such questions are, from any teacher's point of view, 
beyond all doubt imperative. This point was no doubt 
sharply scanned by Christ. And he finished down his 
judgment to the sharpest edge, before he set out with any 
reply. Bungling here but poorly befits his followers. 



JO Teacher'Training with 

2. Christ's first reply. He instantly raises Peter's esti- 
mate seventy-fold. This is violently abrupt. And its 
violence is evidently designed. But what does such 
excessiveness mean? Certainly this, that Peter's con- 
jecture was widely astray. This the naked mathematics 
makes sun-clear. But the problem is not a case of 
numbers. The subject is forgiveness of a sin, a sin 
that keeps recurring. This is a grave affair. And in 
such a grave concern Peter's measurement went seventy 
degrees astray, and that by a geometrical rate. Now 
you do well to tarry right here for long and searching 
thought. Just where did Peter stand upon this theme? 
And where was the standing ground of Christ? In fact 
they stood a whole continent apart. But what, just what 
does this fact mean? It is precisely this that Jesus goes 
on to make clear. It is a choice example of how to 
teach. 

3. The parable, (a) He imagines a debtor owing 
60,000,000 shillings, with not a shilling to pay. The 
creditor, a king, issues a decree that the man, and his 
wife, and his children, and all he had be sold, that the 
account might be squared. Such was the debtor's plight, 
such was his distress. Jesus describes him as falling 
prostrate, begging for the mercy of delay, and pledging 
that every shilling shall be paid. In compassion the 
lord releases the man, and remits the debt in full and 
for good. Thus the Master fashions the case. 

(b) Here is the place for a teacher to stop and ask 
sharp questions. Why did Christ devise an indebtedness 
so immense? Why did he paint the man so penniless? 
Why did he work in the peonage of all his house? 
These are all notoriously vigorous strokes. But they 
are all pure fancy. What was the Master at? Why 
did he project a case so serious, so extreme? He had 
a distinct design. Do you see it? 

(c) Now follow the Master's further fancying. He 
conceives this man, just out of the grip of the direst 
distress, as himself a creditor in the paltry sum of 100 
shillings. He paints him as unheedful of the cry for 
mercy, unbending in the vigor of his right, and all 
vmpityingly thrusting his fellow debtor into jail 



The Master Teacher 7/ 

(d) Now can you interpret this? What does it 
mean? Work it over and over. Expound this literally. 
Test this : The recipient of priceless mercy is himself 
an uncompassionate extortioner, pitiless as a Turk, 
wrenching from a broken life the uttermost penny of 
his claim. Unmeasured mercy had befriended him. He 
who obtained great mercy is not merciful. Now study 
into this. It is the very core of Christ's Gospel. Put it 
this way: Can forgiveness enter an unforgiving life? 
Is a merciless man fit to receive any mercy? 

Then put it this way : Must a man have a real share 
in the forgiveness he receives. Think of that forgiven 
debt. In signing away his claim that kindly king signed 
away 60,000,000 of sterling coin. That act was to him 
at awful cost. But of this impressive sacrifice that 
pleading debtor had no sense. The priceless value of 
that royal clemency he utterly failed to sense. He knew 
not how to value it in kind. He was incompetent to 
understand what "forgiveness" meant. It was a process 
in which he had no share. This comes clear in two 
ways, as Jesus invents the case. He would not forgive 
his fellow debtor. And his own release was finally 
recalled. Now study. Mercy costs. In that cost both 
parties must feel a share. To be forgiven one must be 
forgiving. Only the merciful can obtain mercy. Pur- 
sue this. Can a man take benefit from moral sacrifice, 
and give its moral cost and pain no heed? Now turn 
it right about. If a man is deeply gracious himself, will 
he shrink from the prospect of showing grace to others? 
Does this hit Peter's case? And was just this the 
Saviour's aim? 

(e) Now sum it up. The forgiven, being unfor- 
giving, abides in guilt. The forgiving, being wronged, 
will freely and limitlessly forgive. Grace is gracious. 
Mercy is merciful. Peter really hated to forgive. Sen- 
sible of its obligation, he was trying to find its minimum 
bound. He hopes to find its obligation expire, at the 
outside, after seven times. And he seems to have no 
thought but that within that range his exercise of par- 
don may be faultlessly correct. Jesus' answer shows 
that mercy is deeply free, unlimited, unrestrained. For- 



J 2 Teacher-Training with 

giveness is a work of mercy in which both parties share 
alike. Giver and receiver rejoice and suffer together. 
He who receives, sorrows and suft'ers with him who 
gives. He who gives, rejoices with him who receives. 
In forgiveness both cost and joy are deeply mutual. 
This is the Saviour's truth. And this is the Master's 
art. 

4. Teaching hints. 

(a) Christ's outrightness. Note Peter's mood. How 
cautious, and timid, and mincing his step ! Contrast 
the ample generosity of Christ. He disdains all scanti- 
ness. Note the burst and stride of his speech. How 
manly it is, how straight-away. What an element in a 
teacher ! 

(b) Christ's fullness of grace. Peter's impulse to 
forgive was a faint and drooping plant. Christ's clem- 
ency was like a king. 

(c) The gentleness of Christ's strength. There was 
in his words a lightning flash. And yet those words 
shine with all the mildness of a morning dawn. 

(d) Christ's relentlessness. Peter's thought is tug- 
ging for relief. But the Master's requisitions are liter- 
ally extreme. Think of this. 

(e) Christ's deep consistency. Peter's ideas about 
forgiving and being forgiven were apparently sadly out 
of accord. At least this was the case of the leading 
debtor in the parable. But Jesus sets the two experi- 
ences in absolute coincidence. A forgiving heart is the 
efflorescence of a forgiven life. How deeply do you con- 
ceive this to open into the genius of Jesus' teaching art? 



The Master Teacher yj 



LESSON XVI. 

Handling a Shifty Lawyer. 

Luke 10 : 25-37. 

I. Do your best to understand this case. 

(a) He comes inquiring, as though ignorant. But 
he answers each question, as though expert. Look into 
his profession. He was by training and practice an adept 
in the very line of his question. His standing was well 
defined, and his influence as teacher was most com- 
manding. Study the Gospel allusions to '"lawyers" and 
"scribes." Try to get a general sense of their attitude 
towards Christ. Try to discover why this attitude took 
just the form it did. 

(b) Put together this man's form of approach to 
Qirist, and his estimate of himself. He came "tempt- 
ing" the Lord; and he was inclined to "justify" him.self. 
See sharply how these two impulses were related. He 
came as though in the dark and seeking light. Christ 
made him answer his own question ; and then declared 
his answer all-sufficient. Think of this. Do you think 
this lawyer was genuine? Did he seek for light? 
Plainly not. He knew passing well ; and his reply came 
out instantly. And Christ's prompt approbation brought 
the conversation, of a sudden, to a full stop. Be definite 
here. This lawyer began by asking a question. The 
sequel shows that its true answer was not what he 
sought. What, then, was he after? Was he really 
shamming? Did he actually feel real respect for Christ? 
Was he hungry for truth? Do not dodge these ques- 
tions. Locate this man. What is the meaning of v. 29? 
Christ's opinion of his own reply was clear and prompt : 
"This do and thou shalt live." What means that pro- 
pensity to "justify" himself? Justify himself in what? 
Press your thoughts for an answer here. Had he been 



74 Teacher "Training icith 

unneighborly ? Exactly why did that next question 
come to the surface? What sent it out? Something 
lay back of it. Push for that inner region. These ques- 
tions are obviously makeshifts. There is some hidden 
animus. Find it out. Study the scene all through, hav- 
ing in your eye one only aim : to detect the spirit that 
was in this man. Help on your search by reviewing 
again all the Gospel allusions to lawyers. What was 
their type? Is this case one of that type? Keep at this. 
Plainly this man's queries were merely a disguise. It 
is equally plain that his disguise, when smitten with one 
honest glance from Christ, was all too thin. Now see 
how the Master handled him. 

2. Christ's answer, (a) He drew him out of his 
ambush. He drove the lawyer to his law. He made it 
come clear that the inquirer knew quite enough to 
fashion his own reply. He made it stand painfully plain 
that this questioning scribe was more ready to teach 
than he was to pursue the way of life. This laid open 
in his life a sad and shameful flaw. Though spending 
all his strength upon the law of life, as a teacher, he was 
not respecting that law in his own behavior. He was 
merely mentally curious. He was not morally in earnest. 
If he w^ould but "do" what he well knew, he would 
"live." But his knowing and doing fell apart. Hence 
he stood every day self-condemned. This moral cleft 
the Master made him lay open, as an awful blemish. Do 
not fail to see by how swift and deft a stroke this 
was done : "You seek the path to life ; you are familiar 
with the law; how does it run? this do." "Do" what you 
already know^ 

(b) This ousted the man from his selected hiding- 
place. He stood out in the open sun. And it was his 
own word that so quickly uncovered his trick. He 
stood in most evident guilt of a false pretense, and that 
upon a most solemn concern. He must find some other 
subterfuge. And so he dodges nimbly into the old and 
tangled thicket of race prejudice, and intimates that he 
is unclear as to who his neighbor is. Beyond all denial 
this is nothing but a shift. Pursue it closely. We need 
to know our man before we can ever fitly teach. What 



The Master Teacher 75 

kind of a man is this? Two things are clear. He is 
insincere ; and he is trying to save his skin. 

3. The parable. Keep two things in mind : the man, 
his general type ; and the question, its particular point. 
And keep in mind that this is a parable, a pure inven- 
tion ; and that it was fashioned in the Saviour's mind in 
an instant's flash. And mark some general traits. The 
field selected by Christ is not the sea or the farm, the 
flowers or the birds. He fashions his fancy from the 
experience of a man. Why was this ? 

And in this human scene, he invents, as the central 
feature, a case of suffering. Why was this? And he 
imagines the suffering as so extreme as to be all but 
fatal. Weigh each word. Why was this? And he 
conceives this last extremity of human pain and peril 
as being left by most excellent and good men in con- 
scious, intentional and absolute neglect. Why was this? 
And finally he pictures a man, whom this Jewish lawyer 
would deem wholly wanting of good repute, as paying 
to the neglected and dying sufferer all humane attention, 
and this at distinct personal inconvenience and cost. 
Why was this ? And there the Master leaves the matter, 
simply forcing the lawyer again to answer his own 
question. Why was this? 

Here, now, are a few plain questions. Not one of 
them is vain, if you really covet insight into the art of 
teaching. They are not abstruse. They are not occult. 
They are concrete and obvious. They all point straight 
to the method and art of our Saviour's work. And they 
all point to one center. They guide unerringly in the 
direction of true neighborliness. This is the only point 
of the lawyer's inquiry. This is the only point of the 
Master's reply. This is the only point of your study, if 
you are in earnest. Every question helps to place it. 
Every question merits an honest reply. 

4. Special studies. 

(a) Think of the two main themes of this scene — 
eternal life and neighborliness. How did they ever 
come up in a conversation with Christ? Why together? 

(b) In handling neighborliness. how likely are you 
to come upon suffering? Is there any hint here of a 



J 6 Teacher- Training iciih 

good test of good teaching? Note that Christ volun- 
teered this element. Why? 

(c) Christ's teaching soon lands him in the work 
of repair. See how often in the Gospels he introduces 
this theme. How deeply does this theme strike into the 
heart of all his discussions? 

(d) Do you note the presence of sin in this lesson? 
Where? How does it get introduced? Does its dis- 
closure here show good teaching? 

(c) Here are four things brought together: this 
lawyer's topic, eternal life : that citation of the sum of 
the O.T. law ; Christ's mission : and this parable about 
the neighbor. Now can you show two things? First, 
how these four matters happen to get together? Trace 
out the genesis and development of this little scene. 
Show how each element grew in. Second, how those 
four things are related essentially. Do thej^ really vitally 
cohere? In brief, is this lesson a unit? Where does its 
tmity lie? How profound a matter is true neighbor- 
liness ? 

(f) Study this: Would the parable have had just as 
much point and force, if the benefactor had been a 
Jew, and the beneficiary had been wholly exempt from 
distress? 

(g) Did Christ teach this lawyer anything? Did he 
tell him anything? Pause right here awhile. Just what 
did Christ accomplish? Just how did he do it? 

(h) How did it happen that Christ could flash forth 
so instantly so finely polished an answer? Exactly what 
are the elements of the answer? What is there in it 
other than absolute sincerity and absolute good-will? 
Where then lay the secret of Christ's skill? 



The Master Teacher 77 



LESSON XVII. 

The Full Truth Concerning Prayer. 
Luke II : 1-13. 

1. How this scene happened. Its immediate occa- 
sion was a vision, by the disciples, of Christ in the act 
of prayer. Something in that scene seems to have im- 
pressed one of his followers. It is noteworthy that 
the Lord's conduct seemed engaging. This disciple 
coveted the same freedom and power that Jesus showed. 
He wished to imitate his Lord. Another influence was 
the fact that John had taught his disciples to pray. Here 
is food for any teacher's thought. The disciples seek 
instruction. And this appeal is due to the Great 
Teacher's example. Christ's own prayer so impressed 
his follower that he plead to be taught its secret. 

And think of John tutoring his disciples to pray. 
Think of his own experience, his capacity to treat its 
principles, his method of teaching. Let your fancy play. 
Imagine how Christ would enter upon prayer, how he 
would work his way through a prayer, how he would 
close a prayer. Imagine how firmly both John and 
Christ must have believed in prayer. Here are strong 
convictions, careful thought, and open example on the 
part of the teacher ; and admiring attention, a cherished 
wish, and a voluntary appeal on the part of the pupil ; 
and all concerning that solemn but vital mystery, prayer 
to the unseen God. Here is both milk for babes and meat 
for strong men, who covet the power to teach. 

2. The form of prayer (vv. 2-4). (a) See how the 
Master's reply starts out : not by an argument, but by a 
model. Mark his themes. They are the main thing. 
Weigh and compass each one. God's kingdom : the 
coming and culmination of his sovereign work of judg- 
ment and grace. Man's bodily need : the plea for a daily 



j8 Teacher^Training with 

grant of daily food. Sin : a call for pardon, enforced by 
an avowal of a personal sensje of its cost and worth. 
Temptation : a petition to be spared the peril of its 
assault. A Father: a reverent embodiment of a filial 
feeling of trust and love. 

(b) Bring to the front the great values engrossed in 
this prayer. The moral : Abhorrence of sin, sense of 
proneness to sin, experience of wrong inflicted by others, 
exercise of the wonder of pardon, craving for grace. 
Here lies open all the range of the moral realm. The 
physical : How essential ! How suggestive of waste 
and change each day ! The religious : The sense of 
God's fatherhood, and transcendence. Get a clear sense 
of their deep diversity, their boundless range, their full 
unison. The social: Look into the hints of fellowship 
with others in dependence and praise, in sin and grace. 

(c) Think all this over and over, as a body of truth. 
Think of the process of selecting and assembling it in 
the Master's mind. Think of his sweep and search of 
thought. Think of his comprehension of human need, 
human peril, human lapse, human hunger, human peace. 
Think of his insight into God. Think of the balance 
of his thought. Think of all these and other things as 
hints of the Saviour's full readiness for such a request. 
He was a man of prayer. He was a man of thought. 
In such a theme he was at home. Such readiness for 
such a theme — what a study for teachers ! 

3. The case of a man in need, and his friend in bed 
(vv. 5-8). Read this over and over, till you exactly 
find the Master's aim. Then read it over and over, till 
you appreciate his art. 

(a) Look into that need, as Jesus painted it. It 
affects a host. It is a lack of bread. It is deep in the 
night. It involves a guest. Study this. It is all pure 
imagination. But every phrase is a flash from Christ. 

(b) Follow the course of getting a supply. It was 
secured from a "friend." It came despite irksome in- 
convenience. The decisive motive was shame. It was 
an answer to a prayer. Scan each feature here, too. 
Every stroke is free invention ; but it is the invention of 
a iertile, lively mind. 



The Master Teacher 79 

(c) Now get it all before your mind. This whole 
case is nothing but a supposition. Why did Jesus sup- 
pose such a case? Why did he pick that relation of 
"host" and ''guest"? Why did he paint the host with 
"nothing" ? Why did he conceive the host as seeking a 
"friend"? And why, especially, did he insert that ele- 
ment of "shame"? Now, look all these features over. 
Where does the accent lie? Bring the case to some 
point. Is it hospitality, or friendship, or emergency of 
need, or urgency of prayer? Just what is the meaning 
of that word "shame"? Does it point to the pride of 
the host, or the hunger of the guest, or the duty of a 
friend? Work this through. Christ has supposed a 
case where a prayer and its answer are the outcome of 
an insufferable extremity. No guest may go unfed. 
That were a disgrace. Such a situation compels a 
prayer. Such a prayer compels an answer. 

(d) Now keep strictly to this supposed case. Be 
sure you know just what you are doing. Bring out 
again each element : the host, the guest, the hunger, the 
friend, the plea, the inconvenience, the shame, the bread. 
Out of all these, omitting no one, construct a sentence 
showing the propriety and the power of prayer. Fashion 
it so that a prayer will be unavoidable ; so that its force 
will be irresistible : so that its denial will be inconceiv- 
able. Keep at this until yon see the point and force of 
Christ's thought. 

(e) But do not forget that the entire situation is an 
invention. It was an absolute and free creation of 
Christ's thought. Why did he give it just that form? 
Try to recast it all eliminating completely that element 
of "shame." Wherein will your case and this one differ 
in their teaching touching prayer? Then take out en- 
tirely the "guest." Would the case be equally urgent? 
Then cut out all trace of need. Then would prayer 
be just as fit and strong? Pursue this. Search out the 
very point and the exquisite art of these brief phrases 
from the Great Teacher's lips. 

4. Now enter vv. 9-13. Here it is not "host" and 
"guest" and "friend" ; but "father" and "son." But ob- 
serve the "bread" again. 



8o Teacher-Training with 

(a) Put together these three factors: father, son, 
and bread. Out of these three primary human reahties 
Christ weaves an argument for prayer. As illustrated 
here, prayer is vital, normal, valid, and efficient. It is 
woven out of strongest, tenderest human ties. Do not 
drop this clue. Pursue it. 

(b) But above all things mark that phrase "how 
much rather." This is vital to understand. It intimates 
that all thus far said is only an introduction. It is a dis- 
tant approach. Earthly friends and fathers are bound to 
hear, and sure to honor exigent appeals. But at the 
very best (mark this) their responses are sluggish and 
prone to be misled. With them are weariness and mis- 
takes. Still they will surely answer such requests. But 
your heavenly Father never wearies and never errs. Any 
cry out of any need for any good he will surely heed. 
By as much as his love and truth and strength transcend 
all earthly fathers' and friends', by so much will his 
proffer of all good in answer to all prayer be more sure. 

(c) Now note the agreement of it all. Hold together 
before your eye his own act of prayer, his form of 
prayer, these two illustrations, and that central appeal of 
his in V. 9. Study deeply into them all. Do they all 
agree? Here is your chance to test the full perfection 
of the Master's art. 

5. Teaching hints. 

(a) Study the relation of teaching to experience. 
Is it likely that Jesus ever lay through a night unfed? 

(b) Could a truer or more ultimate analogy be 
named for the study of prayer than a son's request of his 
father for bread ? Christ was 'deeply thoughtful. 

(c) Examine minutely this method of teaching by 
analogy. 

(d) Study the value of making your teaching irre- 
sistible. 

(e) Find the roots of Christ's strength. They lay 
in his complete familiarity with the very nature of God 
and the very nature of men. 

(f) Which has the greater teaching value — the gen- 
uineness of Christ's piety or the profundity of his 
thought ? 



The Master Teacher 8i 



LESSON XVIII. 

When Pupils Lie in Ambush. 

Luke 14 : 1-6. 

I. Here is another scene with critics. Jesus was at a 
feast. The host was a ruler from among the pharisees. 
The guests were probably the host's familiars, who 
would sympathize with him in a technical, legalistic view 
of life. It was a Sabbath day, a period beset all around 
with scruples and statutory rules. Here is call again 
for the play of your imagination. Give it some liberty. 
Make use of it. 

(a) Try and conceive how Christ figured there. His 
very presence shows that he had command of some 
measure of their respect. They did him the honor to 
give him a place at their feast. This reaches back into 
some anterior observation and study of Christ, on their 
part. Let your mind run out into this. Fancy how 
Christ won their heed. But scan this scene. Christ was 
being "watched." Think of him under that constant 
scrutiny. They were all the time gathering, he was all 
the time giving points. And Jesus was conscious and 
wary. Note that ''answer" in v. 3. He had his eyes 
open to their every nod and wink. Think of this. Imag- 
ine Christ caught napping ! And he moved straight 
forward in his work. He did not idle or delay or post- 
pone. He knew that their hearts were unfriendly. He 
knew that he was about to give offense. Think of this 
unvarying straightforwardness in Christ's -deeds. He 
always paid his mission full respect. Some phase of it 
was shining everywhere. No phase of it needed hiding 
anywhere. He never dallied or trifled or entered into 
truce with enemies. He always stood erect. He always 
faced his work. Here are fertile hints for teachers. 

(b) Study those fellow guests. They merely 



8^ Teacher-Training with 

"watched." They leveled all their eyes for some flaw. 
Even when Jesus squarely challenged them, not a man 
but was so unfair and rude as to decline all reply. Their 
silence came near to being glum. They asked nothing, 
answered nothing, offered nothing, did nothing. Study 
them. Describe them. Test these following words : 
They were cold, zealous, biased, resolute, cruel, cow- 
ardly, crafty, blind, subtle, studious, formal, envious, set, 
keen. Which of those terms are inaccurate or unfair or 
superfluous? But get in earnest. Study these men. 

(c) Now try to explain to yourself how this condi- 
tion arose. How is it, when Christ is so frank, that his 
fellow feasters are so sly; when he is so genial, they are 
so sour; when he is so undisguised, they are so suspi- 
cious? Christ was the light of the world. Why must 
they play the spy? Study into this. Find its roots. 
Doubtless Jesus did. As those people sat there feasting, 
they should have had with Christ unhindered and happy 
fellowship. What was the obstacle? Study that list 
of adjectives above again. W^hich one indicates the 
heart of this unfriendliness? Was it their dullness, or 
their envy, or their Sabbath legalism? Track this down. 
Carve out some answer. It is, for wise teaching, a first 
necessity. At what point will Jesus most wisely level 
his next word or deed? 

2. Now study the Master's work. He is aw^are of 
their Sabbath rules. He projects before their eye a 
man sick with the dropsy, and an ox in a pit. He heals 
the dropsy, consciously assailing their Sabbath scruples, 
and transgressing their Sabbath rules. And then he 
demands of any one of them to say, if he would not on 
the Sabbath day do any labor needful for the relief of his 
ox. 

(a) See if you can construct out of this deed upon 
the dropsy and that word about the ox Christ's idea of 
the root fault in those spies. They would neglect the 
man, but respect the ox. And they would do this out of 
esteem for the Sabbath. Look. Here are religious 
formalism, property greed, and inhumanity, these three. 
Christ's procedure deals a ringing blow at every one. 
Now answer. How did Jesus interpret and understand 



The Master Teacher 8j 

the case? Then answer again. Was his view correct? 
And then answer once more. His diagnosis being right, 
was his treatment wise? Would you think and act 
similarly? Be careful here. What was the sum of 
Christ's answer? At its sharpest point it was human 
kindness. He felt compassion for human suffering. The 
sharp thrust of this plain point was the whole force of 
his response. That pointed act rebuked the reign of 
legalism and greed, and made human sympathy free and 
sovereign in the midst of the human heart. Now look 
keenly after the accuracy of this. Study it over and 
over, through and through, in and out, looking in turn 
at the sick man, the ox, the spies, the Sabbath code, the 
mind of Christ. Did Christ's blow^ hit home? 

(b) But watch the class he was teaching — those 
fellow guests. Mark their attitude. They are hard and 
rigid and fixed. They are not fair. They are morally 
stolid. They are beyond any teacher's reach. They hate 
the truth. They love the ox more than the invalid man. 
They cherish Sabbath primness above human joy. Com- 
passion is stifled. Keen and spry towards money gain 
and money loss, they are dull and faint towards human 
hurt and human cheer. They are ardent towards things, 
frigid towards men. 

(c) With all their indocility in your mind, study 
Jesus again. Note ever\^ quality of his work. He keeps 
to his own pattern. Explore the inner value of that act 
of healing. It is a beautiful display of kindliness and 
skill. Before such a company, and in the intent of Christ 
what did that healing mean? It carried up to the very 
portals of their eyes a mighty lesson. Find it out. Then 
get the measure of his boldness. He knows he is 
trampling some of their choicest prejudices beneath his 
feet. But he walks straight on. He doesn't flinch an 
instant, or swerve an inch. But study him just here. 
He is not wanton or rude. He is strong and firm ; but 
it is only mercy ; only pure, benignant grace. Still he 
is sharp. His words are as a knife. They cut to the 
nerve. And he is true. He exactly indicates their 
fault. And he makes it glare. And he is strong. They 
cannot reply. Here is a place to meditate. Learn the 



8zf Teacher-Training tcith 

art. Think intently upon this plain and quiet illustra- 
tion of your Master's method. Here is teacher-training. 
Here is normal work. Here is pedagogy, plain and 
pure. 

3. Studies in combination. 

(a) Try to turn upon those pharisees, in one flash, 
all the light of this lesson. It is not easy; but it will 
pay. As they came in and took their places in the pres- 
ence of the Lord, they were wary and ardent, but mute — 
the silence of the spy. As the little conference ends, 
they are still mute, but dogged and dumb — the silence 
of the convict and the dolt. Keep scanning them. Get 
your picture vivid. 

(b) Try to blend the traits of Christ, as a teacher. 
His mildness, insight, force — ^and all so spiritual and 
free and pure. Work at this. You face a radiant soul. 

(c) Make a place for the joy and song of the sick 
man healed. In fact his presence fixes the center of the 
scene. Show how every thought and act articulate here. 



The Master Teacher 8^ 



LESSON XIX. 

When Pupils Push for Primacy. 
Luke 14 : 7-14. 

I. The situation. It is a feast, the same scene as in 
the last lesson. The feature that now gets Christ's 
attention is the carefulness among the guests to select, 
each for himself, the honorable seats. Here are two 
matters for thought ; the fellowship of the feast ; and the 
strife for the first places. 

(a) What is a feast? What does it mean? Why are 
they provided? Why are they so popular? Look into 
this. Imagine the Saviour's sentiments and engage- 
ments at a feast. Fancy his motives in going. What 
would be his spirit and manner in such a place? Try 
and imagine what features would please him ; and at 
what behavior he would be grieved. Keep at this. What 
is a feast? Name the essentials. Surely they are two: 
food and fellowship. Now put some thought upon those 
two things. Think of food. Think of the nature of it, the 
need of it, the relish of it, the nurture by it. Then think 
of the fellowship, its freedom, its equality, its mutual 
respect, its partnership. And now mark narrowly how 
every one of these features of a feasting company of 
men point inevitably and unerringly to what is common. 
They share them all together. It is of the very essence 
of the very nature of a "feast" that all who gather there 
should share alike. 

(b) But now study that push for primacy. Analyze 
it. It is an ugly factor in any feast. See what it does. 
It exiles instantly all full companionship. Divisions 
are traced out sharply. Fellow feasters fall apart. 
Grades and ranks are set conspicuous. Emphasis is put 
on differences. The dignitaries swell. Inferiors dwindle. 
Distinctions stare everywhere. And this at a "feast!" 



86 Teacher^Training with 

As though men's tongues and palates differed ! And as 
though division helped on unison ! 

(c) And now watch the workings. Distinctions at 
a feast ! Look into this. See what emerges, when fellow 
feasters fall to fixing grades. These new and most 
ungainly arrivals will have to be given room : hypocrisy, 
arrogance, self-consciousness, swelling, scorn, aloofness, 
contempt — this on one side; and resentment, bitterness, 
dissent, anger, hate, sham phrases, false manners, empty 
praise, adulation, envy, jealousy, discouragement, back- 
biting. More or less of these ill-mannered guests will 
surely enter and sit through any graded feast; and they 
will as surely sully the face of its finest joy. Such 
distinctions are cruel. They are a biting affront. They 
kindle anger. They smite love in the very eye. And 
they are untrue. They give currency to counterfeits. 
Sterling coin they retire. They are gross. They rate 
things above persons. Jewels outshine virtues. 

And they are intolerably arrogant. They usurp the 
place of God. They assume the right to judge and fix 
man's worth and lot. 

Such is the issue of the push for primacy at a feast. 
It corrodes character, and it banishes fellowship. Such 
is the nature of the situation. Do you agree? 

2. Christ's teaching. 

(a) Observe that he handles the matter directly. He 
inserts no analogy. And he fastens upon some one indi- 
vidual ; note the singular "thou." Probably he faced 
and addressed some person in particular. He narrowed 
his remarks down to three men : the ambitious guest, 
some worthier guest, the host. He admonished of pos- 
sible humiliation. He made the issue turn on worth. 
He advises lowliness. He pictures the honor of ad- 
vancement by the favor of the host, and the deep joy 
of its approbation by all the guests. And finally he pub- 
lishes a general law touching honor. 

(b) This teaching, set in the heart of a feast, merits 
your thought. It really embodies a philosophy. It sets 
in glaring contrast two traits : an ungracious self-esteem, 
and a kind-hearted lowliness. One prefers himself be- 
fore all others ; the other prefers all others before him- 



The Master Teacher 8j 

self. Both are imagined seated in the highest place: 
one by his own sole vote and preference ; the other by 
the invitation of the host and the unanimous welcome 
of the fellow guests. Get into this. Study the two 
foundations. See how scant and slender the support of 
the one. His dignity is based only on his own view, and 
his own sole vote. See how broad and sure the ground 
which the other holds. He has shown good-will to all, 
referring all preference to them. This touches every 
man, and they in turn give cheerful preference to him. 
The man who disdains and denies the worth of all his 
fellows will find them all denying him congratulations 
and respect. The man who honestly seeks to enhance 
the honor of all will* find his own worth acknowledged 
by all. The lowliest are the worthiest. The haughtiest 
are the emptiest. Cruel haste for primacy is sure to 
end in shame. Gentle heed of all one's fellow guests is 
sure of supreme respect. All this is in the Master's 
simple words. Do you doubt it? Then weigh again that 
word "chose" in v. 7, noting that it is the act of the guest ; 
and that phrase "glory in the presence of all" in v. 10 ; 
and Christ's view of the inner quality of the man who 
voluntarily and genuinely "takes" the "lowest plajce" 
V. 10. There is a profound wisdom hidden in those 
words. Be diligent till you surely find it. 

(c) But see how deftly it is done. It is all so con- 
crete. You can see the swollen dignity collapse. You 
can feel the warm approval, as the guests do deference 
to the exemplar of a lowly, kindly love. And it is so 
quickly done. His words are few. But the task stands 
complete. And it is so wisely subtle. There is no self- 
placed dignitary but has the uneasy fear that his precious 
dignity may any moment be outranked. This lurking 
fear Christ vigorously goads. And it is all so strong. 
These eager guests picked their seats themselves. Each 
seems to deem his estimate and preference supreme. But 
the Master more than hints at the peril and foolhardi- 
ness of overriding their host. And then his words are 
so surcharged with character. Be sure you do not 
ignore or undervalue this. This peril is most subtle. 
It lurks at every turn. Test it in V, 10, Are you sure 



88 Teacher-Training with 

your estimate of the man, who volunteers to take the 
lowest seat, agrees with Christ's? Follow this up. Do 
scenes like this affect you as this scene affected the 
Lord? Do you deeply believe v. ii? 

And observe that this teaching is spontaneous. It 
came unasked. Suppose Christ had postponed these 
words until they were desired. Are men likely to seek 
or welcome such advice? 

3. Now read vv. 12-14. Here the Master accosts the 
host. Can you show that the principle here is identically 
the same with his counsel to the guest? It surely is. 
Are you able to work it out? This deserves your re- 
spect. It will help you to find the relation of substance 
and form in your teaching work. Here is the sum of the 
whole. Host and guest alike must show a strong and full 
good-will. Their neighborly kindliness must be absolutely 
unhandicapped, uncalculating, unselfish and free. Then 
desert will attain to dignity, and dignity will be de- 
served, and this by the happy consent of all. Do you 
agree ? 

4. Special studies. 

(a) How prone are men to duplicate this scene? 
Make a study here, in the presence of Christ, of a Chris- 
tian teacher's opportunity, duty, and task. 

(b) Christ points to honor. Note his word, ''glory." 
Do you suppose this goal lures you to your work as it 
lured your Lord? 

(c) See how Christ makes reference to the presence 
and judgment of the crowd. Take the measure here of 
those two words, "shame" (v. 9), "glory" (v. 10). Do 
you sense how he uses this? 

(d) Do not overlook the Saviour's mention here of 
"the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind." What im- 
pulses were working here? Are they essential in any 
teacher following Christ? 



The Master Teacher 8g 



LESSON XX. 

The Distasteful Bliss. 

Luke 14 : 15-24. 

1. The situation. The feast of the last two lessons is 
still spread. Keep in mind those silent spies, those first 
seats, that thrifty host. But out of it all bring now to the 
front those allusions to "blessedness," "recompense," 
and the "resurrection of the just," in v. 14. Here are 
three engaging themes, all pointing to a happy future. 
Instantly some feaster prates about the shining felicity 
of that future state, more than intimating his own assur- 
ance of abundant entrance into the kingdom of God. 
Here you ought to pause. Survey this company again. 
Recall the last two lessons. And note that in the words 
now rising towards Jesus' lips there is embedded a 
smarting rebuke. There is crying need of teaching still. 
The Master is still at table with a crowd of unheavenly 
Pharisees. Review it all. That biting query about the 
dropsy still awaits reply. Arrogance and pride still grip 
the uppermost seats. The subtle host is still dressing 
his plumes. Think right into this. Do you deem that 
the host forbore to forecast his manifold reward ; or that 
the upper rank had really welcomed the lowest seats ; 
or that the confounded spies conceded their defeat? 
Beyond all doubt deceit and greed and cold-heartedness 
on the part of the spies, hot thirst for preference among 
the guests, and strict reckoning of every platter and sofa 
provided by the host, were flourishing throughout that 
banqueting-hall in vigorous growth. And the men who 
relish such unsavory things esteem themselves to have 
and hold widest entree into heavenly feasts and keenest 
appetite for heavenly bliss. This ugly anomaly Jesus 
had to face. Make sure whether this analysis is right. 

2. Christ's treatment. He instantly invents and ushers 



po Teacher^Training loith 

in a goodly parable. It is a princely example of teaching 
skill. Sit one side and watch its pageant pass. 

(a) It is accoutered from the Orient. Catch every 
aspect as it moves along. The host, his lordliness; the 
hall, its amplitude ; the banquet, its munificence ; the 
invitations to the guests, their multitude ; the servant, 
his busy diligence ; the final readiness, its full and fair 
display; and in it all the thoughtful heed for happiness, 
the grand attractiveness of the whole. Give your imagi- 
nation play. Think of the grace and charm and prac- 
ticed skill of eastern hospitality. It embodied the prime 
delight, the chief desire, the perfect refuge, and the 
choicest honor of oriental life. Make sure this beauti- 
ful scene is fully spread before your eye. Master so 
far the Saviour's art. 

(b) But now, a marvel ! When every place is ready, 
and all the bounty is complete, and doors are all flung 
open to the guests, and all are called to come — every 
man declines ! Now sit quietly down and think. Think 
of the East. Think of their feasts. Think of the host. 
Think of the servants. Then fancy such behavior 
from guests. It is amazing, amazingly rude, amazingly 
strange. What was in Jesus' thought? Watch him. 
He points a steady finger, and holds a steady eye. Get 
his aim. He is in the midst of a well-nigh matchless 
teaching scene. 

(c) It all stands open, in one way, in the following 
words from the invited men : *T am buying a field ; I 
am testing a team; I have wedded a wife; I cannot 
come ; I beg release." Here is the inmost core of Jesus' 
thought. Burrow to its heart. These men are already 
satisfied. They are preoccupied, well-filled with pres- 
ent employment and present content. Their days and 
thoughts and hearts are full. The spice and zest of life 
are already theirs. They know no hunger. This stands 
clear. But what does it mean? Ponder this. Do not 
let it drop for days. And know what you are ponder- 
ing. This is not the end of the Master's thought. It is 
only a means. It is a parable. It is a royal illustration of 
a royal Teacher's ingenuity. Are you really ready to 
study it? 



The Master Teacher 9/ 

(d) All explanation roots in those former para- 
graphs. Review those lessons with both your eyes and 
all your heart intent. Note how in them Christ urges 
the culture of frankness, pity, humility and uncalculating 
love. Weigh over and over those ponderous words. 
Every one is burdened with eternal value. Do you 
admit this? Set each term in the presence of those hints 
of reward and blessedness and a resurrection. They are 
the very and only qualities fitting for that future bliss. 
Get this sun-clear. But for all those qualities these 
feasters have no taste. They love formality, primacy 
and generous recompense. They insist upon gradation, 
and generate ill-will. These are the things they love. 
When a banquet of heavenly charity, sincerity, humility 
and purity is openly proposed, they spurn the feast. 
Just here, look back. Review and rehearse it all again. 
What is Christ trying to do? How is he trying to do 
it? Is he doing it well? Persist in studying this. It 
is a close pursuit of a most discerning guide. It is high, 
fine art. 

(e) But now master what the Saviour adds. And 
mind your eye. The parable takes a mighty turn. But 
its aim is just the same. It doesn't yary^ by a Hair. But 
it is a parable. Get all this clear. It is a prime essen- 
tial in gaining a teacher's skill. The generous host 
becomes indignant. He cuts every rejecter off. Not one 
shall have a taste. But his food shall not go stale. He 
proffers all its wealth to the stricken poor. None of his 
labor shall go for nought. For every portion there 
shall be a joyful guest. And all who come shall shout 
and sing and thrill with high, care-free festivity. Now 
do you see the very point? And does it seem to you 
to shine? And do you see that it is surpassingly fin- 
ished and sharp? The *'poor" are hungry. The 
"maimed" are vexed with wondering unrest. Of bliss 
and bounty there is in their lean and broken lot a piti- 
ful lack. Open to them a beautiful, bountiful hall, and 
how pathetically instant and thankful their response! 
But still, this is all a parable. Do not err so fatally 
as to admire its beauty, and miss its point. For whom 
do those lame and hungry, eager people stand? Never 



9-2 Teacher-Training with 

for the self-satisfied and well-content. Never for any 
who contemn free grace. Never for any who deny 
that they are forlorn and in desperate need. Follow 
this up. 

(f ) Now unify the whole. Restate the situation. Re- 
hearse the parable. Uncover its point. Is this the sum? 
Not the proud and fat and unpitying heart, but the 
faint and lean and broken soul will hail the moral equity 
and dignity and bliss brought in at the resurrection of 
the just. Or this? Not for souls in present plenty, 
but for souls in present distress has the bliss of heaven 
any charm. Or this? Not the haughty, heartless, un- 
repentant hypocrite; but the open, tender, humble heart 
will enjoy the festal fellowship of Christ. 

3. Teaching hints. 

(a) Mark Christ's appreciation. Everything is 
familiar. 

(b) Measure his vigor. See if you detect all its 
signs. He is intense. 

(c) Note his aptness. He was at a feast. He spoke 
of a feast. 

(d) See how explicit h^ is — almost abruptly so. In 
the parable, as a parable, nothing is vague. 

(c) See how self-evident the parable is. Keep 
within the parable and all men will judge it alike. 

(f ) See how he leaves his parable unexplained. But 
note how^ irresistibly it pushes every hearer to an expla- 
nation. 



The Master Teacher pj 



LESSON XXI. 

Eating with Outcasts. 

Luke 15. 

I. The occasion of this lesson was a general move- 
ment of publicans and sinners towards Christ. Note 
that word "all" in v. i. Think of the sweep of the 
Lord's power. Note that phrase "drawing near." Think 
of the nature of the Lord's power. It was attraction. 
Among men Christ's influence is centripetal. He engen- 
ders a feeling for fellowship. Think of the field of the 
Lord's power. It was among sinners and publicans — 
men deemed outcasts, men whom cultured people spurn. 

(a) Try to make this real to your mind. Think of 
Christ's tone and style and theme ; his voice and eye and 
hand; his grief and joy and zeal; his direct and gentle 
address ; his warm and genial friendliness ; his strong 
and deep compassions; his healthy mingling of abhor- 
rence and affection for men in sin ; his instant sympathy 
with the contrite; his genuine and easy companionship 
with the lowly and despised; his hot resentment of 
haughtiness and all abuse ; his gracious and winsome 
overtures from God ; his plain and faithful mention of 
impending wrath ; his splendid manliness, so honest, 
reverential, kind and pure ; and all so noble, faithful, 
spiritual and strong. Get all this in motion before your 
eye. Conceive it working freely among those outcast 
men. They had noted all his grace and excellence ; and 
the glory of it had aroused and set erect all the inert 
manliness in men whose daily portion among their fellow- 
men had been unfriendliness and cold contempt. And 
the outcome was a joyful round of friendly feasts. The 
humane and heavenly Lord, and the sin-stained outcasts 
of his day were socially at one. This caused offense. 
The proud and well-trained sticklers for traditions and 



94 Teacher-Traming with 

forms, the cultured aristocrats of the day grumbled. 
And they kept it up. For every succeeding happy feast 
they felt a heightened resentment and discontent. 

(b) Study searchingly into this. Study till your 
heart begins to burn. Make the contrasts wide. Get the 
edges sharp. Do not mince. Here if anywhere Jesus 
was uncompromising and plain. Get clear and positive 
like him. Get clear, and be honest, and speak it out. 
Jesus abominates class arrogance. He never spares 
self-righteousness. He cherishes nestling penitence. He 
always bastes a pharisee. He always comforts lowli- 
ness. Behold him in this chapter. It is a famous land- 
scape. And Jesus is as a rising sun — all aglow with 
zeal, all agleam with grace. But these spleeny pharisees 
despise his grace. Now observe his zeal. Jesus is to 
defend his grace. Here is the chapter where the Master's 
teaching art stands in the majesty and light of a high 
noon. 

2. The Saviour's answer. His reply and rebuff are 
threefold. He fashions on the spot three parables. Each 
parable of the three contains three themes : a loss, a sor- 
row, a joy. Now it all revolves about a coin, now a 
sheep, now a son. All three are lost, all three are 
mourned, all three are found. 

(a) Note the loss. The coin is gone; its value is 
annulled. The sheep is astray ; it has no worth. The son 
is profligate ; his manliness is all laid waste. This note 
is fundamental. Make sure its resonance is full. But 
what does Jesus mean by that word ''lost"? Would he 
and the pharisees agree? In some sort, yes. He >vould 
agree with them, they would agree with him that 
precious value had gone to waste. But would they agree 
with Christ in his mighty sense of the preciousness of 
that vanished thing? Think here. 

(b) Feel his grief. The coin, the sheep, the son had 
worth, even when at waste. Here you need to have 
deep fellowship with Christ. For those pharisees. no 
open harlot or hateful publican had any worth. But 
Christ had vivid sense of value there, though sadly gone 
to wreck. No evil, sodden life but would stir in him a 
piercing, ceaseless, heavy pain. Get a sense of this. It 



The Master Teacher 95 

is the very genius of his art. It is the key to all he 
says and thinks. It is the spring of all these parables. 
For every wasted, outcast life he feels real love and 
pride. Hence each parable. This, precisely this taught 
him all this skill. But for that deep, full mingling of 
pride and love and pain, Jesus had been a pharisee. 
These parables would never have been conceived. Get 
hold of this. Here coils the mainspring of your 
Master's teaching skill. He loved the publican. He 
prized the harlot. In every human wreck he detected 
treasure store of human worth. Hence those matchless 
parables. The coin was worth the candle. The sheep 
was worth the search. The son was worth the fatted 
calf. Hence those feasts. Hence this grand defense. 
Hence his teaching skill. It is simply the rebound of his 
deep, true love. Con it over and over. Get your Sav- 
iour's sense of the worth of what was lost. That coin 
was sterling. That sheep was life's support, the shep- 
herd's pride. That son was the offspring and girdle of 
his father's loins. The worth of unworthy men — this is 
his theme. 

(c) Now catch his note of joy. See it work its 
utterance out in fellowship. The woman tells her 
friends. The shepherd calls in neighbors. The father 
makes festal jubilee. And all for joy. But note. Just 
this festal happiness stirred all that grumbling. Now 
are you sure you find the burnished point of it all? It 
is sharply, simply this: Is every man worth saving? 
Is every one worth visiting? Then get quickly at it. 
And soon deep hearts will flow together. And the 
crest of human happiness will be reached. The harlot 
will turn pure. The publican will grow true and kind. 
Estranged hearts will be reconciled. Then there will be 
high joy in heaven, and precious festal foretastes here on 
earth. What a glowing theme ! And what shining art ! 

(d) But all is keyed to grace. Every parable is but 
an ample and inviting highway to the beautiful gateway 
of penitence. Do not fail to see and go where the 
Master of heavenly mercy leads. His only aim in enter- 
ing those feasts is to lure every feaster to a better life. 
He mourns their shame. They must reform. He loathes 



9^ Teacher '^Training iciih 

their dark wrong. They must reform. Watch his hand- 
Hng of the prodigal son. It is all pure fancy. See him 
paint in that deep rich glow of filial love as the prodi- 
gal returns. To all eternity that beautiful hue will 
never fade. And as an answer to those grumblers, its 
finished art is absolute. Tarry here. That picture of 
the returning prodigal, as a model of teaching skill, will 
never have a peer. It is the Master Teacher's master- 
piece. As a warrant for those feasts with harlots it is 
impregnable. As an answer to those pharisees it is 
irresistible. As a banner to hang forever above his 
form its living texture is imperishable. Now struggle 
for your life to feel Christ's art, and to find its source. 
What was the secret of his skill ? It was his zeal to 
save. He carried infinite store of sacrificial love. He 
burned with zeal for righteousness. He loathed every 
shade of sin. Hence all his popularity among those 
shadowed lives. Hence all his skill in framing parables. 
3. Special studies. 

(a) Walk about his answer. See its fullness; he 
flashes out in three replies. He weaves three tapestries, 
with figures totally unlike. See its unity; the three are 
one. Each aids the other two to drive one lesson home. 
See its victory : no man can fashion a living reply. 
Try it. See its finality : no man has ever added a word. 
Try it. See its beauty: every figure is a gem. 

(b) See his strong wisdom. He points to the cur- 
rency, the herd, the home. He probes into all the deep 
interiors of human life. And nothing is of transient 
worth. He grasps and stirs the main instincts of man. 
He knows and he uses what is in man. 

(c) See how his answer leaves his critics. Describe 
them in the light of this reply. 

(d) But his appeal must fail. But it is unanswer- 
able. What do you say? 



The Master Teacher ^J 



LESS.ON XXII. 

Luxury vs. Charity: A Life Choice. 

Mark lo : 17-22. 

1. The youth. He was eager, courteous, open, influ- 
ential, moral, attractive, wealthy, uncontent, selfish, mi- 
serly, unspiritual, unchristlike. Here is a study worth 
any man's time. Test each adjective above searchingly. 
Then think: Why was he in unrest? Why did he 
come hasting to Christ with such a query? This, too, 
needs answering. Something was disturbing, driving 
him. Something was impressing, attracting him. Do 
you think there was in him any inward dishonesty with 
himself? Or can you name any unconscious error in 
which he was probably wandering? Probe carefully 
here. Where was his nature's center? He had a 
hoard of perishable things. He had a priceless, undy- 
ing soul. Which was practically weighing heaviest in his 
Hfe? 

2. Christ's treatment, (a) He enjoins the old Com- 
mandments. Do not overlook this act. Jesus resorts to 
ancient Hebrew Scripture in a momentous current case 
of practical life. He finds in that ancient law enough. 
In a similar case would you probably pursue a similar 
course? Now get to thinking. What was the Saviour 
designing here? What was his idea? Was he trying 
and meaning to show the way ta the kingdom easy and 
short ; or was he aiming to show that the path was hard 
and far? Here are deep inquiries. They demand plain 
answer. What was Christ's design? Was he working 
to soothe or to deepen this youth's unrest? 

(b) Now probe the youth's reply : "All these have 
I always kept." Get the tone of those words. Do they 
ring with moral earnestness? Or are they the utterance 
of a Pharisee? Which was it, the note of devotion, or 



9<S Teacher-Training toHh 

delusion, or dishonesty? If he was, in fact, a moral 
devotee, how did that zeal fail so suddenly before the 
Lord's final counsel? If he was in error of thought, 
but of honest purpose, why again did his honesty fail, 
when he turned away from Christ? Was he then dis- 
honest, perhaps unconsciously^ so? But how could he 
fail to see his neighbor's need, and the open beauty of 
Christ's unfailing charity? Do not evade these ques- 
tions. They demand the respect of any earnest, would- 
be counsellor of men. The teacher and guide whose 
work is wise and whose word is apt will have expert 
skill in diagnosis. Such indubitably was Christ. Study 
your man. 

(c) Now walk all about the Saviour's response (v. 
21 ). It is the lighted candle in this whole lesson. He 
counsels a work of thorough-going charity. He bids the 
youth sell all he has, and give to the poor. He adds two 
thoughts. Heed them well. He pledges heavenly riches ; 
he invites to follow him. Here are three themes for the 
rich youth's thought : the needy poor ; the career of 
Christ ; the store of treasures above. These are all pro- 
posed to his attention with the design of parting the 
ruler from his wealth. 

This proposal the man declines, with frowning face 
and sorrowing heart. 

3. Now here is the place to reach definite answer to 
the questions left pending above. What kind of a man 
has the Lord in hand? Work towards the center of the 
scene by diverse paths. To what, from what, by what, 
whom was Jesus leading? 

(a) Study the forces he brings to play: the needs 
and bonds and joys of the poor; the heavenly gains; his 
own companionship. Tarry here. What is the range 
and value of these themes as they lie ordered and opened 
in the Master's mind. Why were they mentioned? 
What do they mean? At what do they drive? Towards 
what do they lure? Answer this. Christ's eye and 
thought and will were fixed. That is clear. But on 
what? 

(b) Study the youth again. Think of his style and 
g-uise, of his wardrobe and larder, of his equipage and 



The Master Teacher 99 

servants, of his tastes and employments, of his solitudes 
and friendships. Think of his transient moods. Think 
of his pure spiritual being, his immortal part. Now 
among all these things, what centered and held the 
Saviour's eye? Precisely at what did the Master 
point? Think again of those hoards of goods, those 
waiting human poor, those heavenly stores, Christ's 
work and way. Here are four realities. Get each one to 
stand full size, full height. Now think. What is going 
on? 

(c) Now think again. Ponder those contrasted 
values. Those goods: at best they were only transient; 
at most they were only means. Those human poor, the 
lordly, kindly Christ : they had lasting worth ; they 
were ends, that all endure, undying and undimmed. 
That youth : viewed once and hastily, he is a perishing 
mortal, needing wealth of food and raiment and chang- 
ing cheer; but viewed again and carefully, he is a 
deathless being, close-knit in brotherhood of other men, 
capable of high fellowship with Christ, a fair candidate 
for heaven. 

(d) Now judge the youth. Scan these values. Get 
close to Christ. What is afoot? Is it this? Christ was 
probing to see which was weightiest and lordliest in that 
young life : the body or the soul, the dying or the endur- 
ing, the means or the end, the vital or the formal, the 
moral or the carnal, the human or the animal, the sordid 
or the spiritual. Or w^as it this? He was forcing the 
youth to show whether he was selfish or fraternal, seclu- 
sive or social, cold blooded or compassionate. Review 
all this. The question and the issue are all shut up in 
the grip of those goods. Will he hold an utter dominion 
over them ; or will they hold an utter dominion over 
him? A straight, firm answer just here will tell pre- 
cisely whether or not he is fit for a place with Christ, 
in heaven, and among his kind. 

(e) Now open all your mind to the outcome. The 
youth prefers his goods. He spurns his neighbor's cry, 
the Saviour's lead, the spiritual wealth of heavenly life. 
This crude decision shows his inner grain. And it forces 
a precise opinion of his worth. 



L ffU 



lOo Teacher-Training with 

4. Teaching qualities. 

(a) The severity. Christ surely made the issue 
infinitely grave. Might he have been more moderate? 
Do not answer hastily. 

(b) The graciousness. That allusion to the poor. 
Can you define its quality? That mention of the heav- 
enly wealth. Can you describe its tone ? That invitation 
to discipleship. Did it wear a genial guise? Where, 
then, was the severity? 

(c) The wisdom. Was the Lord discreet? From 
first to last were his words well said? No true teacher 
will trifle here. 

(d) The power. The Master set an ultimatum. 
Watch the young man face it. Do you suppose he wel- 
comed it? Do you see how he could evade it? How did 
Jesus get that so fixed? Here again, any earnest 
teacher will be in earnest. 

(e) The growth. Watch this incident unfold. Why 
did it not take some other form? Relate the Master's 
words to the Master's life, and see if you can show 
how they connect. He simply could not do otherwise. 
Imagine Jesus loving luxury, hating charity. Would 
he, then, have faced and forced the issue as he did? 
What query follows next? 



The Master Teacher lOi 



LESSON XXIII. 

The Lure of Wealth. 

Mark lo : 23-31. 

I. Christ's comment, as the young ruler retires. "Only 
at dire pains can a man of wealth enter the kingdom of 
God." 

(a) Fix the occasion. The rich youth declines the 
kingdom rather than surrender his goods. He is sidling 
awkwardly away. Christ takes note of all his darken- 
ing selfishness. He has offered to the man his own 
companionship, the wealth of heaven, all the unmixed 
joy of human charity. He deeply knows the values 
he presents. But the youth has turned his back. And 
now the Master faces towards his followers. They have 
watched the battle, and seen the youth withdraw, and 
heard the Saviour's solemn estimate.* They utter their 
dismay. It seems to close to men of wealth the door of 
life. Right here you may wisely pause and learn to use 
your eye. It is a critical teaching scene. The engag- 
ing youth has not been won ; his own disciples are in a 
maze of wonder. What will the Master do? 

(b) He reiterates his awful word, but with aug- 
mented accent and solemnity. Take the measure of his 
stately deliberateness. Weigh its dreadful burden. "To 
save a. rich man is all but hopeless. God must inter- 
vene." Mark Christ's rigor here. The disciples are 
stunned. The youth is verging beyond Christ's call or 
reach. The outcome is awful. It is of the Lord's own 
conscious ordering. But he leaves it fixed. He does not 
recall the youth, nor relieve his disciples. It is a mighty 
scene. But watch the Lord. Get the surge of his heart. 
He is in evident agony. But he doesn't bend. He knows 
what he has met. See the darting directness of his 
thought. His eye looks straight at the power and spell 



102 Tcacher^Training with 

of wealth. He has found its dominion all but absolute. 
The Master is at a crisis of his work. Watch his 
method. Look for mighty words. Learn how to teach. 

(c) But keep in mind the vanishing ruler. His 
preference is the background of all this scene. His 
love for goods outranked his love for Christ or man or 
heaven. In the final choice his spirit's strength col- 
lapsed ; his love of selfish, carnal luxury took the throne. 
The glint of gold, the revel of high feasts, soft ease 
have outshone and overcome the light of heaven, the 
face of Christ, and the benediction of the poor. Has 
the Master been really wise? Must the issue be so stern, 
must his teaching be so grave? In a final conflict, where 
will Jesus fix his final stand? What is the inmost text- 
ure of his truth? Where must the Teacher ultimately 
be found? All this is here at stake. No case could 
be more vital. No situation could be more grave. The 
Master Teacher faces a mighty shock. Watch how he 
plants his feet. 

2. The kingdom's cost and reward. 

(a) Study Peter's question. He sees what the king- 
dom costs. Its exactions are absolute. In any final 
strife between the -kingdom and one's possessions, the 
surrender of the latter must be complete. This sur- 
render he affirms the disciples to have made. As he 
interprets Christ, this is the kingdom's price. 

And now he asks a strenuous question. "Having 
surrendered all, what is our reward?^' Is this correctly 
stated? Get clear. Did Peter rightly understand the 
Lord? Make sure. Did the Lord intend to shape the 
issue so? Decide this carefully. If so, was the Master 
wise? Was he really prudent with that youth? ,Were 
his succeeding words none too tense? The ruler's face 
is covered with a frown, and he is wholly gone. The 
disciples' hearts are full of wondering fears. Is this way 
of teaching to be approved? Would you advise some 
alteration in his words or ways? 

(b) All turns on Christ's reply. Get in step, as he 
proceeds. Every position he assumes has prodigious 
purport. Will his assertions relax? Will he grant to 
eai-thly wealth some sway? Will he moderate somewhat 



The Master Teacher loj 

the kingdom's claim? Will he counsel some com- 
promise with the wealthy ruler's frown, and yield con- 
cessions to the disciples' anxious fears? Search every 
item, as he goes on. It is the Master Teacher in a 
momentous scene. He is dealing with a living man. He 
is equipping his own apostles. Millions more his teach- 
ings implicate. 

(c) The kingdom's cost. Catch every word. See if 
they modify the ruler's terms. Then it was ''sell all thou 
hast." Now it is "forsaken house or brothers or sisters 
or mother or father or fields." Clearly no relaxing. All 
he said before, he stands by still. All earthly bonds, 
the very closest, must be unclasped. The kingdom's 
claims must stand supreme. Some time you will have to 
ponder this, if you teach for Christ. 

(d) The kingdom's reward. Mark every word. Be 
fully fair with your Lord. Give every term its normal 
sweep. See what this requires. Nothing but years, 
eventful years, 'far-reaching years, the years of eternal 
life will enable any man to inventory and appreciate the 
freightage of these words. And deep fellowship and 
sympathy with the Master are requisite, too. What he 
intends by that "hundred-fold" of houses and fields and 
offspring and kindred friends, only love and pride and 
joys like Christ's can ever understand. Look over those 
words again. Look into them. Imagine teachers filled 
and fired with their full power. 

(e) The kingdom's tenure. For every one who pays 
the cost, it is unfailing and absolute. "There is no one 
but shall receive it." Get the clear, full strength of this 
assertion. It rings with victory. Imagine that note in 
every teacher's voice. 

3. Now review the whole. Here is a teaching scene 
in which the tenet taught was felt by the youth, and by 
the disciple band, and by uncounted multitudes ever 
since all but intolerably severe. And its rigor stands 
unbent from first to last. But mark the manner. 
Through it all, does Christ's unchanging stand seem 
chiefly stern or chiefly kind? Try to answer this. What 
passions were stirring in the Saviour's breast? Look 
deeply here. Keep looking. Read it all repeatedly. In 



lo^ Teacher-Training with 

it all was the Lord anything other than a pure and Godly 
soul, radiant with truth and love? Do not be heedless 
and limp, leaning on another man. Brace your spirit 
to a precise and independent reply. Study your Master's 
manner. How round and full his tone ! In no single 
phrase or syllable does he waver or wince. His assur- 
ance is unlimited. And he is explicit to the last degree. 
His was a style in which authority rose to the note of 
majesty. How overwhelming is his onset! When he is 
done, no further challenge is in place. Attempt it. It 
is for every one to listen and welcome and be still. 
Then feel the completeness of his human sympathy. All 
man's normal cravings are given full respect. Nay, for 
ever>' self-denial there is a hundred-fold return, and 
that in kind. Then see the glow and un wasting life of 
that pure motive — for pure love of Christ. 

And now attempt an outline of your Lord as he 
figures in this scene. Test this, scrutinizing every adverb 
and adjective: He is supremely grave, 'immutably firm, 
invincibly true, overwhelmingly strong, incomparably 
kind. Are not these phrases, or others of equal gran- 
deur and range, minutely true, despite that young man's 
frown, those disciples' fears, and all the subsequent long 
ages of dislike? The Master Teacher is a teaching 
model still. 



The Master Teacher lo^ 



LESSON XXIV. 
The Last First. 
Matt. 20 : 1-16. 

1. The occasion. Here comes a unique parable, an 
exceptionally choice example of his teaching art. Study 
all the surroundings to find what led to its invention. 
The key to its heart lies in the dismay of the disciples 
at seeing the moral young ruler's repulse. Rehearse that 
attentively, noting thoughtfully the youth's apparent 
excellence. He was a genial nature, of an orderly life, 
and flattering position and repute. Surely he was a 
promising candidate for a goodly place in the Master's 
train. But even he has been repulsed by the Lord's too 
snug demands. But his outlook was first class. Reject 
him, and who can be saved? Such thoughts were in the 
disciples' mind. Thus were they bewildered and cast 
down. So now the Saviour has to round out his work 
and make his whole intention plain. Hence this parable. 

2. Study the parable, as it stands. It contains a 
strange device. Yet all is perfectly plain. Its central 
themes are toil and wage, or work and pay, or earning 
and claim, or value given for value received. Make 
your analysis closely precise, keeping fully in mind that 
departing youth, and those amazed disciples. It is a 
rarely fine example of how to teach. And the Master 
is a genius in this art. Lay it open. A vineyard called 
for culture. Men were hired and set to work. They 
entered and freely spent their strength. At the close 
of the day they were lined up for pay. This developed 
strife. Some had toiled all day. Some had labored but 
a single hour. Their work and earnings were palpably 
unlike. This raised the question of merit. It was by no 
means even. On the score of merit, the faithful, all- 
day toiler deserved a larger wage than men who idled 



io6 Teacher'Training icith 

eleven useless hours. But the master of the vineyard 
ordered that all be paid alike; and he strangely stipu- 
lated that the reckoning begin with those whose merit 
from actual toil was least of all. Such is the parable, as 
it stands. 

3. But it is a parable. What now can it mean? Why 
was such an iniquitous scene ever invented by Christ? 
As a sam.ple of social economics it is glaringly wrong. 
But, as Jesus fashions it, every stroke is perfectly steady 
arid sure. Its ethics are as plain as they are perverse. 
Obviously the Lord designed that the inequality should 
not possibly be overlooked. But some clear intention as 
clearly lies perfectly under his m.astery. What is he 
trying to teach ? Wh}^ is he teaching it thus ? And 
teaching it thus, is his teaching likely to succeed? Be 
sure you deal worthily here. Do not forget where this 
parable is set. It is designed by Christ to stand squarely 
in front of that ruler's frown and those disciples' fears. 
The three m.ust be studied together. It is a striking 
group from the hand of a Master. And the issues are 
eternal life, and immortal men, and human poor, and 
the leadership of Christ, and the magical spell of wealth. 
Do not forget. It is a group. Now what does the parable 
mean ? 

(a) All turns on that striking epigram : ''Many 
shall be last that are first ; and first that are last." Mark 
its repetition. See where it stands. It attends the par- 
able on either hand. Between the two the parable 
swings. They are the poles of the axis upon which 
it turns. And they sturdily uphold all that the parable 
involves. Whatever anomaly the parable contains, no 
anomaly could be more glaring than the one this epi- 
gram is made twice to afiirm. It is doubly, if not trebly 
evident that Jesus intends the strange perversion which 
he has made his parable embrace. 

. (b) Now look back to that upright and unchristlike 
youth. W^hich laborer does he represent? Plainly, the 
man who toiled all day. From his very youth he has 
been keeping the commandments. Through all his life's 
open day he has been laboring to deserve and command 
highest respect. As he confronted Christ, he was a 



The Master Teacher MSq/i 

white-guised dignitary, vested with all the insignia of 
general respect. And his honors were deserved. He 
was properly of the first. Think here of the youth 
and of the parable together and in detail. Think of the 
toil, the aim, the claim. And do not forget him who 
faced' and tested and judged that youth, and then, on the 
spot, devised this parable. What is your opinion of the 
teaching ingenuity of his mind. See the breadth and 
accuracy of his deft mind. 

(c) But now review that epigram and parable and 
ruler again. And bring those humble disciples well into 
view. All men adjudge that ruler among the ''first." 
But see the Lord apply to that ruler's scrupulous 
life the even scale of his own benignant. Godly, self- 
denying ministry. Be watchful. See all that young 
man's dignities and excellences depreciate. He has 
no joy in heavenly store. He has no zeal of admiration 
of Christ. He has no burden of pain for human want, 
no high desire towards a brother's joy. In all these 
things he stood outranked by Christ whom he squarely 
spurned, and by all the devoted disciple band. Compare 
him with the adulterer and slanderer and thief, and, as 
human estimates commonly run, he is rated "first," and 
they stand plainly "last." But when he clothed his face 
with that unchristlike, unheavenly, and uncharitable 
frown in the presence of men who lamented their sin, 
and stood ready to follow the Master anywhere, and 
imitate at any cost his humble and holy life, he rated 
"last," and they stood plainly "first." Follow this up. 
Stick fast to the simple, aw^ful fact that the moralist 
spurned to follow Christ, or feed the poor, or welcome 
heaven's spiritual joys. As he came to Christ, how did 
he rate himself? As he turned away, how must he 
be classed? 

(d) This is the outline, and this the animus of this 
odd parable. Jesus came for sinners. He looked for 
the "last." His work is a ministry of saving grace. His 
eye is unceasingly and unerringh' on sin. His impulse 
is irrepressibly towards redeeming and forgiving love. 
His deep discernment sees far beneath all forms. He 
detects underneath the rich youth's fine proprieties an 



to8 Teacher'Training with 

unkindly heart, an unchristlike aim, an unheavenly taste. 
With all his fine exterior he was a sad and sodden 
sinner, like the worst. And while those sins were 
cherished, and the human poor, and the heavenly store, 
and his own kind life, were all disdained, his place 
among the men this vivid parable classified v.-as as the 
ver>' *'last." 

(e) Such is the gist of this threefold scene from the 
life of Christ. Can you state it fully? Can you close 
your eyes and think it through — just as it came to the 
Master's hand, just as his master hand unfolded it. just 
as he crystallized it all in that epigram and parable? 
Keep at it till you can. Read it over and over. Think 
it through and through. Read and think. Think and 
read. When thought wanders, read. When reading 
blurs, think. Persist until the vivid incident is vivid 
for your mind for all coming days. You will find few 
finer places to see Jesus rise and move towards magis- 
terial primacy. He eclipsed that ruler with the piercing 
light, he illumined those disciples with the patient love. 
he carved that balanced epigram and parable with the 
matchless art of the holy and infinite Master of us all. 
Studv him. 



The Master Teacher loc) 



LESSON XXV. 

Riches and the Kingdom: Special Studies. 

Matt. 19 : 16-20 : 16. 

This passage, though truly threefold, is a true unit. 
But it is a prolific scene. Several special studies clamor 
for attention. 

I. In detail. 

(a) Christ made two replies to that youth. First 
he referred him to the Mosaic Law. Then he bade 
him find the poor. Set those two answers dis- 
tinctly apart. Then bring them into close comparison. 
Note how differently they strike the youth. What made 
this difference? You ought to answer this. But then 
notice. What was lacking in the first? Was Christ's 
first reply somehow inadequate? Be heedful here. You 
can easily err. Then, what was Jesus driving ton'ardf 
Where did he wish to place that youth? Suppose the 
youth had done as Christ advised? Think this out. The 
lesson teems with light. Be sure to see it. So you 
may learn to teach. 

(b) Look carefully into that youth's frown and into 
his saddened heart. What do that sorrow and dislike 
deeply meant Keep close to the facts. What occa- 
sioned that grief and disappointment? It was Christ's 
words. Turn that candle full upon that young man's 
scowl. Ferret out its origin. 

(c). See if you can set out the disciples' wonder in 
the form of an argument. Just what did they challenge 
or resent? What statement or treatment of the ruler's 
case would have suited them? Unlock their thoughts. 
In that seemingly simple question. "Who then can 
be saved?" is the substance of a syllogism. Open it 
out. 

(d) In the same way set in logical order Jesus' 



no Teacher^Training icith 

answer to Peter's inquiry. Was it complete? Can you 
uncover Christ's fundamental postulate? 

(e) And now, that parable and epigram. Imagine 
them both left out. Define the case as it stood before 
those two inventions of his fertile mind appeared. Was 
there any call for something more? Just what need was 
met by those twin products of his creative thought? 
Why did he invent that balanced epigram? Is there in 
it any element, more or less, than is in the parable? If 
not, then why the parable? 

(f) Then why were epigram and parable so indirect? 
If they were designed to set sharp contrast between the 
terms of merit and the terms of grace, then why were 
those essential words left out? Fasten into this. There 
may lie just beneath the surface here a beautiful secret 
of fine teaching art. 

2. In general. 

(a) Christ's clarity. How open to the Master's eye. 
from the ver\' start, all the inner deeps, and all the 
world-wide meaning of this rich, young, moral ruler's 
life and choice ! This well deserves your admiration. 
But it also calls for studious prayer, if one would teach 
in the Saviour's stead his message of mercy for all the 
world. The Lord may stand nearer, in the high wonder 
of his true vision, than you think. In this sort of insight 
character opens the eye. Are you sure you understand 
this? 

(b) Christ's moral refinement. How absolutely pure 
and sure the Saviour's moral sense ! It was not by acci- 
dent or magic, or a happy chance that he discerned so 
instantly this ruler's moral crudity. Christ was in his 
inmost soul and life the essence of pure excellence. By 
every instinct of his soul he would counsel instantly 
towards heavenly loving-kindness, full and real like his 
own. No carnal compromise was possible. Here, too, is 
food for a Christian teacher's meditation. 

(c) Christ's moral earnestness. Feel his energies 
here. How full and strong they are ! There was in his 
daily walk a sublime momentum towards the right. He 
would not, he could not palter, or dally, or equivocate. 
Where many another life would halt, and shrink, and 



The Master Teacher iit 

be unsure, he shows a rush, a plunge, a ready, hearty 
confidence, an undelayed decisiveness that betokened 
that his moral qualities had reached a manly, full ma- 
turity. He was no moral weakling. Compare his moral 
stature with the sinking power and faint amazement of 
all those other men. He stood among them all, a moral 
giant. 

(d) Christ's spirituality. Here lay coiled the mighty 
sprmg of the Master's moral strength. He was splen- 
didly aware of his inner being's worth. Scanty food and 
humble attire he could readily endure. For outer seem- 
ing also he had little care. Luxury and vanity he could 
easily contemn. Think here. Had the ruler had a 
sense of this fine quality in Jesus' life, would he have 
been so ready to haste and make that low obeisance 
before his eye? Just what is this quality worth? And 
how does its presence work? 

(e) Christ's respect for eternity. About how did 
this figure in Christ's reply to the youth and to Peter? 
Did it really dominate both answers? This is no light 
inquiry. Think of the ruler. His inquiry had apparent 
respect for eternal life. But look underneath his words. 
Which value was paramount with him in fact, the eter- 
nal or the perishing? Now^ think of Peter. Then think 
again of Christ. What is your honest opinion of him, 
as a teacher, at just this point? 

(f) Christ's simplicity. Here is a fine quality in 
teaching. Study out its presence in this scene. How 
many themes did Jesus have in hand? How did they 
stand arranged and ordered in his thought? Which one 
was pivotal? Do not get tired here. Simplicity is a 
stronghold of teaching power. In this threefold scene 
it stands forth to view like a lofty, well-poised tower. 
Can you define it with any precision ? 

(g) Christ's vividness. Trace this out. That indica- 
tion of the poor, that invitation to his band, that refer- 
ence to a camel threading through a needle's eye, those 
details of toil and pay, that living parable, that fine- 
edged epigram — how real, how visible, how familiar it 
all seems ! Here is perfect art. 

(h) Christ's imperishable validity. We call this 



IJ2 Teacher^Training iciih 

scene an ''incident." But other incidents vanish. This 
one shines forever. How do you explain this ? 

(i) Christ's profundity. This whole scene centers 
about an individual case, the ruler. But Jesus seems to 
find in it a universal law. This deserves long-drawn 
attention. Do some thinking. If you but know it, you 
are facing a splendid trait of Christ. It is a trait that 
gives all thinking poise. It makes a thoughtful man a 
sage. It guides the sage to true philosophy. 

Study Jesus here. Note the poise and trend of every 
turn and term. As he arranged those elements about 
that youth, he saw a world in miniature. He saw all 
men in this one youth. World currents were swirling 
there. And Jesus shaped his course to circumnavigate 
the globe. Here is a principle gleaming into view, well 
worth your eye. Christ's horizon was that of Palestine. 
The men he met were mostly Jews, antique, oriental, 
often strange. But his deep eye swept every sky, and 
his true thought sounded every heart of man. Ponder 
this. When Jesus looked into that Jewish ruler's unsus- 
pecting eye, what did he see? Oh for teachers with an 
eye and mind as profoundly, truly human as Christ's ! 



The Master Teacher iij 



LESSON XXVI. 

Zaccheus. 

Luke 19 : 2-10. 

I. Here is Zaccheus. He is a publican prince. This 
means authority over subalterns ; standing and favor 
under Roman magistrates ; powder in financial circles ; 
dominion over a v^ide section of Jewish territory and 
trade. 

(a) Think of a man like this. Fancy his aptitudes, 
propensities, tastes. Look into his nature, and habit 
of life, and environment, and ideals. Think of the 
nature of his office and duty, of the pov/erful tendency 
towards hardness in manner and heart. Conceive the 
fine hate and real fear his person would agitate among 
those Jews. Think of the moral hazards continually 
besieging such a man. And as Christ draws near, think 
of the obstacles to his truth and love such a case would 
be liable to contain. 

(b) There are those throngs, surrounding Christ. 
Study them. Note not so much their number, or their 
push for Christ, as their prepossessions. Keep in mind 
the loyal Jewish hate of publicans. Probe into the deeps 
right here. Imagine, and take a bit of pains, how they 
would stare and talk, as Jesus orders them all to halt, 
while he helps down Zaccheus. 

(c) Now picture the Master verging along towards 
that wayside tree. See how he reigns among those 
throngs. How compact they are about his face. Their 
eagerness is almost rude. A physical underling, like 
Zaccheus, has no chance. But judge how Jesus was en- 
grossed by the attentions of the throng. He was its 
heart center. The pull and strain upon his thought and 
speech and heart were unceasing and tense. He was all 
but overwhelmed. And this grand popularity must have 



ji^ Teacher-Training icith 

been the Master's wish and choice. For this he sent the 
Seventy on before. It was part of his great design to 
gather up great throngs. 

(d) But now look somewhat deeper. What were the 
attitude and errand of that multitude? See their shal- 
low feelings change and flit. What was in Zaccheus' 
heart? He was like a little child in eagerness to get a 
passing glimpse of Christ. Now turn all your study on 
that lowly, lordly Christ. Mark how his glowing eye is 
searching through and through that throng to find one 
son of man whose soul is tired of sin and hungry for 
redemption. 

2. Xow see Jesus at his proper work. It is a speak- 
ing scene, worth any teacher's ear and eye. 

(a) He faces instantly the certain chiding of the 
multitude, bids their onset pause, commands their empty 
eagerness to fall back and wait; and in the open pres- 
ence of their imperious prejudice, he calls the hated 
publican to his side, honors openly his honest eagerness, 
and in the glad fraternity of host and guest passes pub- 
licly into Zaccheus' home. Thus the gentle Saviour 
dares and does. W^ithout an instant's pause or the 
least disguise, he defies outright the certain lapse of their 
respect, and hazards their complete departure from his 
train. This is one aspect of his finely courteous act. 

(b) But see the other side. He enters festal fellows- 
ship with a congenial friend. He sits as honored guest. 
Zaccheus acts the host, attentive, generous, proud. Jesus 
has found a pupil worth his while. Now he can speak 
and teach, bear wimess and unveil, just as his mighty, 
friendly heart inspires. And Zaccheus has his hidden 
wish complete. Jesus is right before his eye. Nothing 
now can obstruct or delay the full shining of his fair 
majesty. The disapproving and undisceming throng 
is held aloof and at halt, until the open eye of this 
ambitious dwarf shall drink its fill. So the communion 
of model pupil and model teacher flows on for one glad 
hour unchecked and full. It is a scene and enterprise 
worth any teacher's mind. 

(c) Think this all over, back and forth. See what 
you make of it. The scene teems with light for teachers. 



The Master Teacher ii^ 

Move in among that forsaken multitude. Hear what 
they say. Find what they think. Do not play the idler, 
or plead incompetence. That throng is fully human. 
So are you. You can find out the very heart of their 
conceit. Their mouths are full of comments on Zac- 
cheus, and on Christ, and on themselves. Take your 
pen, and make close record of what they say. This is 
the hard but certain way to learn to teach. Look into 
Christ's emotions. They must have been strong ; they 
must have been mixed. He j^icvex left that multitude 
without a pang. But as he watched Zaccheus, his spirit 
must have burst in song. Study that busy publican. 
Count up the cost and joy and carefulness of his hos- 
pitality. He is being mightily changed. Watch his 
growth. Pick up your pencil again, and tell from what, 
to what he is being transformed. 

3. The meaning of it all. Could you but explicate 
this yourself ! 

(a) That throng is a medley. They do admire the 
Lord. But they despise the publican. They packed 
about the Master like sheep. But where his life's chief 
joy attained its crest, they deemed his taste abhorrent, 
and took high offense. And Christ was utterly frank. 
He never veiled his grace. Can you explain all this? 
It would be a good thing for a teacher to know. Sup- 
pose you try to measure the strength of downright 
honesty. 

(b) Christ dominates Zaccheus. But Zaccheus was 
a potent force, and all its exercise had been self-centered. 
He was a wealthy prince of tax collectors. But Christ 
made him a model of philanthropy. Here is enhearten- 
ment for teachers. But note Christ's thoroughness here. 
Zaccheus was actually born again. He became another 
man. Set the two, the old Zaccheus and the new. in 
detailed comparison. Get the grip of his old hand when 
taking toll. Then see his hand grow gentle, as he stands 
in the embrace of Christ. Do some thinking right here. 
No teacher could better spend an hour. 

(c) But how did Christ accomplish it? We have 
no record of their words. But do we need it? Just 
think. But an hour ago Christ was in the focus of a 



ii6 Teacher-Training icith 

mighty throng. Now he is in Zaccheus' very home. 
Thmk again. The Master is fast nearing to his cross. 

Think still again. Jesus in the publican's home was 
the same pure, loving, truthful, lowly soul as every- 
where. And think again. The Saviour would soon be 
fed. And with little delay or ado he would become the 
host, and Zaccheus would sit as guest. How freely, then, 
those two eager souls would blend ! The Saviour's re- 
demptive love was all astir. That meant self-sacrificing 
grace. This would rnello\y and deepen and richly burden 
every word. Can you not run on with this? 

(d) Mark the watchftdness of Christ. That defer- 
ential throng would have blurred any eye but Christ's. 
And Zaccheus was a dwarf and a publican, and thrust 
away beyond the crowd, and in his weakness hidden 
in a tree. But Jesus did not fail to spy his face, nor to 
fathom his heart, nor to grandly recognize his respect. 
Here is counsel for a teacher. Spy out the ready heart. 
Have Jesus' eyes to see. 

(e) Christ's independence. He was much in throngs. 
But they never ruled him. He was always and every- 
where no other than himself. There are grounds for 
this. And they are worth your search. 

(f) The faitlifiilness of Christ's grace. Here is a 
scene where pride, or caution, or fear, or some sort of 
wise farsightedness might easily have claimed respect. 
He could easily have passed Zaccheus. See if you can 
compute the issues of such a course. Do you quite dare 
pass this by? It has big meaning. 

(g) The meaning of an act. First get in view the 
Saviour's closing word : ''This man is a son of Abraham. 
I came to save the lost." These words publish Christ's 
life design. Now think. He pays this public deference 
to Zaccheus. All men vote the man a "sinner." But 
as the Lord goes on, Zaccheus stands transformed. How 
more openly, or beautifully, or effectively could the 
Saviour make his mission plain? What a hint for 
teachers ! 



The Master Teacher iij 



LESSON XXVII. 

The Stewardship Idea. 

Luke 19 : 11-27. 

I. The occasion. This parable sprang up somewhere 
in that incident with Zaccheus. You need to find its 
origin. Only so can you ever study your Master's art. 
To search this out, there is nothing like reading the 
Zaccheus sketch and this parable separately, over and 
over. If you are really resolute, you will do this ear- 
nestly, until you catch main undertones and outstanding 
notes, and find to a certainty what voices correspond. 
Persist in this. Find out what things are central, what 
are trivial. Then you are ready, but not till then, to 
judge your Master's teaching art. Take the following 
items. They are certainly commanding marks. 

(a) Men were somehow brought to think the king- 
dom was just about to come. How this thought got 
lodged is not explained. But recall the ministry of the 
Seventy. Their impressive work must have been mainly 
done. Christ v/as near his cross. He alluded repeatedly 
to his impending crisis. Its awful overhanging burden 
must shape and steady powerfully his every posture and 
step. Men would hang about the mysteries of his speech 
and study the darkening horizon of his life in daily 
expectation of portentous things. 

(b) They unhesitatingly accredited all its blessings 
to themselves. The Jews were exclusively the king- 
dom's beneficiaries. Its glorious dawning would be the 
brilliant vindication of their hopes. 

(c) All publicans and harlots and aliens would be 
cast out. They were sinners, all unclean, unfit for fellow- 
ship with the chosen and select of the seed of Abraham. 

(d) Jesus* persistent friendliness towards moral 
reprobates aroused their ire. Such action they felt 



»fll Teacher 'Training icith 

unbearable. Such a leader they deemed an outlaw. His 
style was no example for them. His principles they 
would unanimously abjure. This on one hand. 

(e) But on the other hand, Jesus came for sinners. 
He stood for mercy. His search was for the penitent. 
His prime official impulse was towards the sick and sad 
and lost. Broken confessions of unrighteousness were 
music to his ear. He loved to work repair. 

(f) And he was of royal line and worth. He was a 
king of men. He was continually sweeping masses in 
his train. In every throng he was easily sovereign. His 
lordship, even when bitterly disliked, was resistless. He 
laid a master hand on every human chord. He uncov- 
ered in men deeps they had never seen. He published 
sins they had never divulged. He tightened obligations 
which hosts of men preferred to slacken and relax. He 
always spoke as from a throne. He was inherently a 
true-born king. 

(g) Features something like these mark this land- 
scape. Scan them carefully. They have a striking cor- 
respondence. On one side spread the throngs with jut- 
ting, ugly prejudice; among them stands the Saviour, a 
ruler of men, eager for righteousness, ready for sacri- 
fice ; close by stands the sturdy and transformed Zac- 
cheus. On the other side looms this parable, fitted and 
designed by Christ to voice the needed proclamation to 
those men. 

a. Now analyze the parable. This work is omitted 
here. But it needs to be carefully done. Then match the 
two together : setting Christ, in the Zaccheus scene, over 
against the prince in the parable; these spleeny phari- 
sees, over against those insurgents; the like of the 
transformed Zaccheus, over against the faithful steward : 
and Christ's unyielding decisiveness, over against the 
final, awful verdict of the returned king. Then get the 
mighty amplitude and impulse of the parable all before 
you and well under way. Name its primal values. 

(a) The master and owner is sovereign alone. The 
servants are only stewards. They have no native title 
to their goods. Their tenure is by commission. It can 
he any time recalled. The prince is lord. 



The Master Teacher 



"9 



(b) The servants are subordinates. Not one of them 
is born a prince. They are under irreversible lordship 
and lawr. 

(c) The prince v^ithdraws. This leaves each stew- 
ard essentially free. For the time his mastery is abso- 
lute. His own sole judgment is his own sole guide. His 
own free will is his own full lord. The measure of his 
own ambition is the sole standard of his plan. For the 
period while the prince is away, each servant's responsi- 
bility and liberty are full. 

(d) What each steward achieves, while the prince 
delays, stands to that steward's credit alone. It is truly 
his own. And yet he who trades, and that on which he 
trades, and all that he acquires, are all and each unde- 
niably his lord's. Thus each servant has a double out- 
look. He may show of what mettle he is really made, and 
this as freely as any prince ; and he may demonstrate his 
deference and devotion to his lord, sealing up in his own 
expanding worth, and in all the increasing wealth, signal 
tokens of his faithful love and zeal. Or he may fashion 
the exact reverse. 

(e) Hereby develops a system of irrefragable right. 
Equities emerge. Relationships ripen. Judgments ensue. 
Awards become inevitable. The servant's stewardship 
and the kingship of the prince must be indubitable. The 
servant must yield respect. The king must be supreme. 
The servant who has stood up in his free manhood and 
wrought like a prince in his master's right, must receive 
a prince's reward. All who annul and contemn their 
lord's control must find that lordship's only and utter 
vindication in their own complete undoing. 

(f ) Such is the parable. Study it all again and again, 
and fit its parts to that Zaccheus scene. Keep this study 
up, until your Master's skill begins to stand in all its 
beautiful strength. 

3. Christ's teaching traits. 

(a) He is unanswerable. This parable stands four- 
square. Or better, it is like a cube. Try overturning it. 
It is absolutely unassailable. It postulates one lord. 
All the rest are subordinates. Sense the simple strength 
of this. 



I-20 Teacher 'Training with 

(b) He is finely magisterial. His skill and power 
are peculiarly those of a teacher. He was a teaching 
prince. He taught. That was his one art. All his work 
is to illuminate. This is grand. 

(c) He is incomparably deft. Do you see his task. 
Study the mood and attitude of that throng. Keep in 
view Zaccheus. It was a case of infinite delicacy. The 
crowds were in no shape for being taught. They were 
hot and hurt. But they sorely needed counsel. Some 
hand must touch them. That touch cannot be faint or 
timid with any fear. It must be resolute and sure. 
Now study your Master's wit and art and quick device 
in building up this parable. What fine self-mastery! 
What cool far-sightedness ! What easy lordliness ! 

(d) But he is thorough, beyond all compromise. 
Mark all the meaning of the introduction of that true- 
born prince. That single feature gave shape to every- 
thing. Its authority and right stood paramount to the 
utter end. Do you see this ? 

(e) See Christ's gentle and deep concern for men. 
See him befriend Zaccheus. That is ideal. Think how 
he held that throng. He must have shown unwearying 
good-will. Then see the mild reflection of his full-orbed 
benignity in Zaccheus' shining change. 

(f ) But he was unpopular. Read again that parable. 
Scan again that throng, as the Master and the publican 
drew out. So he fared repeatedly. In many a moral 
crisis Jesus and the pharisees parted hands. Here is 
a good place to get it clear. Set the publican in the 
midst. Think twice. See what is at stake with Christ. 
Think what is at stake with those pharisees. No truce 
is possible. Now study Christ. How genial is his trait ! 
But how bitter is his plight ! In such a tangle of actual 
life, how and what shall the Master teach? 

(g) So study the scene on every side. It is a royal 
display of the King of teachers in the very thick of his 
work. Carve out his profile. He is a keen-eyed, far- 
sighted, well-poised, invincible, affectionate, true-hearted 
Master of his art. 



The Master Teacher 121 



LESSON XXVIII. 

Is Man Immortal? 

Luke 20 : 27-40. 

I. Get acquainted with these sadducees. They were a 
skeptical, free-thinking, aristocratic set, prone to doubt 
and deride and deny in matters of religion. Now they 
assail Christ. On the surface of their words they outline 
a knotty problem. But look into this. 

(a) Were they seeking light? Did they think they 
were? Would listeners so believe? How does their 
outer aspect strike you, after all? 

(b) Was their case real? Be careful here. In more 
ways than one this situation is typical. When men have 
set opinions, and are trying to "prove" their case, how 
natural is it, in your observation, to test the opposing 
view by a likely and quite life-like, but after all unreal 
''supposition"? Can you find signs of this here? 

(c) Were they really in doubt? Were they in fact 
unsure whether the dead were raised, and in that un- 
certainty trying to get some convictions fixed? Were 
their minds open or closed, judging solely from the 
way they put the case? 

(d) Their statement ends in a question. But think. 
And get right to the point. Given the case, as they 
portrayed it; was a question the natural termination of 
their speech? 

(e) They came to Christ as though for arbitration. 
This act seems to betoken signal respect. Was that 
seeming deference real? Were they aiming to recognize 
or to depreciate Christ's work? 

(f) All the above inquiries concern the core of their 
honor. They require true, fair answers. But now study 
the substance of their case. Upon precisely what were 
their thoughts focused, as they spread out that problem: 



7:2-2 Teacher^Training icith 

its difficulty or its strength? Were they presenting a 
hard case, or a clear case? That is, was their attitude 
assault or defense? Just why those heaped up details? 
As you think of answering them, do you view them as 
believing something, or as denying something? Just 
what are you facing? 

(g) What was the material out of which their in- 
quiry was built? What substance went into its point? 
In general, it was the resurrection. But be particular. 
Resurrection of what? What was the real ultimate 
substance of their proposition? How did their minds 
imagine things, once the dead were raised? You can- 
not wisely avoid answering this. Jesus' answer shows 
that he inspected this point with sharp preciseness. The 
fact is, they went all astray in their idea of what the 
resurrection really is. The very center of gravity of 
their case lay in an error, and an error of the grossest 
sort. Do you see this? 

(h) They appeal to Scripture. But did their case 
and Scripture coincide? Was their case a case in point? 
Does the law of Moses lead into such ludicrous issues ? 
Just what is their fault here ? You feel there is one. 
Locate it. Such cases perpetually recur. Learn how 
to handle them. 

(i) They waken echoes of an age-long party strife. 
Catch those notes of conflict here. They were plotting 
to lead the Lord of peace into a trampled battlefield. 
What do you think of this? Do you ever encounter 
the same design? 

2. The Lord's reply. 

(a) He makes straight for the central error in their 
conception of what the resurrection really is. They 
deemed the physical states prevalent here, translated and 
continued bodily there, in all their carnal grossness. 
This notion Jesus roundly assails with a plump denial. 
In the resurrection they do not marry; neither do they 
die; they are instead as angels; they are sons of God. 

Now linger here. Learn to think. Think of the 
very nature and essence of their crude conceit. Go right 
into it. It was a ridiculous idea — just as they carefully 
designed to make it. But it was shameful, too. It 



The Master Teacher i2j 

showed a low mind. But follow the stroke of the Sav- 
iour's sword. With one quick thrust their case col- 
lapsed. And it collapsed beyond repair. 

(b) But study that inserted phrase: "Neither do 
they die." This is splendidly discerning, straight-out, 
and triumphant. Read all this conference with just one 
thought: what is meant by death f How does it relate 
to marriage? You may profitably tarry right here 
many a thoughtful hour. Those sadducees had no 
sense of "life." Pure spirit being lay beyond their ken. 
They never stopped to think what lay enfolded in that 
bright and vital phrase, "the sons of God." But here 
is Jesus' shining citadel. Strive and climb till you 
reach securely the immortal Master^s high, clear, pure, 
point of view. Then fathom what it means nevermore 
to die ; what it means to be as angels ; what it verily 
means to be sons of God ; what the resurrection glori- 
ously means. 

(c) Thus Jesus swiftly pillories their low mistake. 
But lay out before your eye his shining instruments. 
Examine the tools he used. They were all edged and 
tempered in the skies. See them: "angels," "sons of 
God," "sons of the resurrection," "they cannot die" — 
a goodly, shining set of Christian teachers' tools. They 
are far-flashing, deep-piercing blades. They are like 
straight, swift rays of light. They are pure Truth. 

(d) And now the Lord of Life attacks the central 
tenet of the sadducees. They deny the resurrection. 
Christ delivers one full blow. "The dead are raised." 
Mark his method. He appeals to the Mosaic word. But 
how different his touch and use from theirs ! Mark his 
penetration. Note his choice. It is no chance citation. 
He selects a fundamental word, Jehovah's mention to 
Moses of the name of Abraham: "I am the God of 
Abraham." Here is a word that affirms a vital bond. 
It was uttered centuries after Abraham was dead. Out 
of these imm.easurable deeps Jesus draws forth an irre- 
futable claim. He asserts with magnificent meaning and 
strength: "He is not a God of the dead, but of the 
living." Here are words of tremendous depth. And 
they make reply impossible. Study them well. They 



12^. Teacher^TramSny tcith 

are infinitely full. They are infinitely brave. They are 
infinitely clear. They are like the unclouded sun. 

3. Teachers being in mind, many things cry out for 
mention. Lend your hearing ear. Be yourself. 

(a) The disaster to a scholar of a perverse use of 
Scripture. 

(b) The disaster of neglect of Scripture. 

(c) The pity of it, when the inner eye is blind. 

(d) They dared not question any more. What do 
you think of this? Did it mean being smart, or dull, 
or proud, or dashed, or whipped? 

(e) The priceless value to a teacher of a knowledge 
of the power of God. With Jesus this was a free, 
splendid, omnipotent reality. 

(f ) The resources in Scripture for a teacher who has 
sailed and sounded their seas. Watch the practiced eye 
of Christ. Those broad horizons were a familiar sight. 
Everywhere they gave his thoughtful eye the light of 
heaven. 

(g) Christ's deep discernment of the nature of man. 
Man is not mortal merely. This life does not exhaust 
him. He is a son of God. He is immortal. Here 
are prime postulates for any teacher under Christ. 

(h) Mark the Saviour's brevity. He makes no haste. 
But he makes no delay. He is straightway at his task. 
And he is soon done. 

(i) His balance. He is unruffled, self-possessed. His 
stroke is instant, powerful and sure. And when deliv- 
ered, he stands as steadfast as the hills. 



The Master Teacher 12^ 



LESSON XXIX. 

The Cost of Glory. 

John 12 : 20-33. 

1. Find where this scene occurs. It was quite pos- 
sibly his ven- last appearance in pubHc life; and thus 
his next facing of the Jews was under arrest. Notice 
the caption chosen — The Cost of Glory. Read the para- 
graph often. Jesus is to utter pregnant teachings. 

2. Note how the Master's words begin. He first 
alludes to "glory." Follow the whole paragraph through 
with this one theme in mind. Gather up and hold 
together its different names and forms and phases. This 
means close work. But it is the only way to find how 
the Master taught. 

(a) Prolific fruit-bearing (v. 24). Are you willing 
to weigh each word ? Think of a grain of wheat "alone." 
Then think of "bearing," and "fruit," and "much." 
Value each word as your Saviour did. They all suggest 
life, growth, increase, abundance, value. Try to pro- 
nounce each term as Jesus would. Now bring alongside 
"fruit" that word "glory." What is Christ meaning 
to say? Try to think of "fruit" as "glory." Here seem 
to be two names for one thing. One seems to be literal. 
One seems like a figure. But think at leisure. Are 
both figures? May both be literal? What does the 
Master mean? Keep reading the whole paragraph till 
you are able to decide. 

(b) Now (v. 25) Jesus speaks of "keeping" one's 
soul, and of "eternal life." The preceding phrase speaks 
of "losing" one's soul. That means perishing utterly. 
Keep this contrast before you. Now fasten your mind 
on "keeping the soul unto life eternal." and bring along- 
side that thought that "glory" and "fruit." Here are 
three terms. Do thev reallv anvwhere near coincide? 



126 Teacher^Training with 

Use a bit of time here. And see that your mind really 
works. Look at each term apai't. Then look at two 
together. Then combine the three. Why did Jesus use 
them all? Would two have answered? Which two 
are best? Is there more than one idea? What was 
Jesus trying to say? Read all the paragraph repeatedly 
and find out some reply. 

(c) Now study v. 26. It tells of the reward of 
ministering to Christ. Two phrases express it : "being 
with" Christ, and ''honor" from the Father. Here 
again, compare and combine. You have "glory," "fruit," 
"life," "fellowship," "honor." But note. As Christ 
began, that "glory" was his own. Now, as he speaks 
of "honor," it belongs to disciples ; this "honor" is theirs. 
Has his thought made some transit? If so, where? Or, 
is his "glory" one with their "honor"? Settle down to 
some of your best thinking here. Face up to that 
word "fellowship," "being w^th" Christ. Is that his 
glory, or their honor? Think here. Digest the whole 
again. It is wholesome nutriment, and worthy exercise 
for any teacher. Look forward to v. 32 : "I will draw 
all men unto myself." Do all these phrases culminate 
in that? Let your study and thought, just here, be 
worthy of your Lord. 

(d) And now listen to that voice from heaven in v. 
28: "I will glorify it again." This answers a prayer. 
That prayer surged up out of a deep soul "trouble." 
It cries out : "Save me." Let that petition ring its full 
note. Catch every wave and echo. It is a vastly solemn 
melody. But it attunes with another note: "Glorify 
thy name." Are you able to hear at once the full music 
of the two? Do you see how the blending two are met 
and balanced in that heavenly antiphon : "I will glorify 
it"? Here is music of melody, harmony, antiphony 
worth your study. Listen as the angels do. Study out 
their interplay. 

(e) But now stand a little aloof, and survey the 
whole. The disciples and the Greeks seem forgotten. 
The Saviour seems as in the supplication in Gethsemane, 
where he strove and cried in solitude. But read v. 30. 
This prayer is not a closet plea. Its supplication and its 



The Master Teacher 



J27 



response were designed for the multitude that stood by. 
And it leads on to portentous words. Read vv. 31-32 
about the crisis of the world, and the world-prince's 
judgment, and that ominous "lifting up." And now 
assemble that trouble, that prayer, that answer, that 
world crisis, that death by the cross, around that answer : 
"I will glorify (my name) again." See how God's 
glory crowns and dominates it all. But see its cost. 
And now rehearse it all again. Christ's "glory," the 
"fruit," the "life," the "fellowship," the "honor," God's 
"glory." What does it all mean? 

(f) And now once more that jubilant shout, "I will 
draw all men unto myself." Let it ring right here, as the 
mighty Saviour meant it should. And you stand back 
where all these voices blend. Fix your ear for each. 
Listen to them all. See what "glory" means. See how 
all harmonize beautifully, when centered about the 
Father's name; equally, when centered about the Christ: 
and equally again, when centered about disciples. The 
heavenly splendor of all three is one ; and in that 
splendor all those glories merge. Now push right into 
this. Is the foregoing analysis at all correct? To 
answer this question is the main purport of this study. 
It is a task for teachers. 

3. But thus far only one side of the lesson has been 
in hand. It began with the "glory" of Christ, and ended 
with his victory on the cross. Now take up the theme 
of "Cost." Review the lesson again. Start in from the 
cross. Its shadow falls everywhere. 

(a) The grain of wheat must "die." 

(b) One must "hate" his life. Man must not shelter 
his soul from pain and outlay. He must consecrate it 
unto sacrifice, as Jesus did. 

(c) A disciple must "minister" unto Christ. Recall 
the rich young ruler. Christ's follower must take with 
him the path of lowliness, cost, and sorrow. 

(d) Now combine these forms of "cost" just as you 
did those forms of "glory." They embody, in fact, but 
a single thought. But that thought is rich with all the 
value of the sacrificial life and death of Christ. But keep 
in mind your special aim. You are studying the Master 



128 Teacher-Training with 

Teacher in his teaching work. Catch the secret of his 
art. Get into his fertile inner mind. Find his aim. Get 
the outer girth of his thought. Then watch his mind 
invent and shape apt w^ays of telling what he thinks. 
Test his wisdom in his art by cutting out from his 
varied speech each varying form of saying it. So note 
the loss. Thus compute the gain. Then judge his skill. 
But it will take a deal of thinking, and not a little sober- 
ing life to give your mind full vision of the wide hori- 
zons in some of Jesus' words. Try this in that word 
"follow me" in v. 26. It took Peter all his life to find 
what that short utterance meant. And so with Paul. 
And so with Jeremiah. 

4. Now sum up the whole. 

(a) What is this lesson anyway? Is its primary 
topic Glory or Sacrifice? Or does it set the two in 
equilibrium ? 

(b) What force is central here, Christ's wisdom or 
his character? 

(c) How does the Master carry himself here, as 
well-poised and steady, or anxious and perturbed? 

(d) What do you think of that praj^er in the midst, 
as a coefficient of his teaching power? 

(e) What world forces come to view in this brief 
paragraph ? Are you confident you can list them all ? 

(f) Just what is Jesus talking against? 

(g) Just what is Jesus arguing for? 

(h) Notice how fluid Jesus' mind is. How freely it 
moves from verge to verge through all the moral realm ! 



The Master Teacher 1-29 



LESSON XXX. 

Vine Culture and Soul Culture. 
John 15 : i-ii. 

I. The figure. Get well familiar with its elements : 
the husbandman, the vine, the branches, the fruit, the 
barrenness, the culture, the abundance, the pruning, the 
burning. Here is another parable. Explore it thor- 
oughly. Keep in mind two things: its teaching art; 
and its teaching aim. It is a fine study for a teacher. 
It is a marvel of teaching power. It has a beauty that 
will never fade, a freshness that will never stale. It is 
like a pure, full spring, unwasting, undefiled. 

(a) Note first the vitality of the figure. It is a par- 
able from life. It points to a growing plant, not a 
builded house. This is clear to your mind, you think. 
But is it? State the difference. Define a living plant. 
Will you really do it? Get your mind fastened here. 
Be exact and minute. Then read it all again, and see 
how well-directed and distinct your Master's thought is. 

(b) Get your eye upon the parts of the figure. Note 
the figure, not the vine. Be precise here. There are 
several essential items. Can you name them? We call 
it the parable of the "vine." But could you fairly call 
it the parable of the "branches," or of the "fruit," or of 
the "joy"? Could you truthfully term it the parable of 
the "husbandman," or of vine-culture, or of vital rela- 
tions? Is it a parable of life? Get clear about these 
parts. Define each one alone. This is more needful 
than you think. You think you already understand. 
But close this book right here, and write out a parable 
of the vine. Try to do it exactly and with nice art. 
Make it fit a man's religious life. Try this. You may 
find it more needful than you think to put some resolute 
study in right here. 



J JO Teacher^Training wth 

(c) Observe the unity of the figure. A vine is strik- 
ingly manifold. The branch is not the vine. The root 
is not the grape. The grape is not the bunch. The seed 
is not the pulp. The skin is not the juice. The bark is 
not the leaf. The tendril is not the stem. The flavor is 
not the blush. The weight is not the size. The life is 
not the growth. So multiform is a vine. And yet we 
never designate it by a plural. We always nominate it 
in the singular. 

Now study the w^orkings of the Master's mind just 
here. He is describing our religious life. Imagine some 
object void of unifying life and growth — say, a cathedral. 
Would that answer Jesus* purpose just as well? Be 
careful here. Does the idea in the mind of Christ re- 
quire, for illustration, some such a unity as a growing 
vine? Study into this. It leads to the very rudiments 
of the teaching art. 

(d) The husbandry. You know how a vine behaves 
that has no care. It is a wayward, straggling, aimless 
tangle, its foliage vastly superfluous, its fruitage acrid, 
undersized, and scant. You know how a vine behaves, 
when trained and pruned. It is a bower, burdened with 
beautiful fruit. You know how this amazing change is 
wrought by the watchful eye and steady hand and pres- 
cient plan of the husbandman. Now do some thinking 
on vine culture. Walk through a neglected field. Sit 
down in a trellised garden. Think, the way the Master 
did. He did some thinking here. As he threaded 
through this parable, he picked his path with masterly 
care. Think of this parable, with the husbandman's 
care left out. Then answer, and know that you are 
interpreting Christ, why did he put that feature in? 
And do not forget that it is all and only a parable. 

(e) The divine mystery. This paragraph deals with 
vine culture and soul culture. Both concern life. Now 
examine> as carefully as 3'Ou like, either side, the soul 
or the vine, at this point, the factor of life. You face 
a mystery. Set all else aside, and look on a growing 
vine. Do your best. You say the vine "grows." Its 
tendrils stretch, its leaves expand, its clusters swell, its 
mellowing juices flow far away upwards and fill God's 



The Master Teacher iji 

dainty reservoirs. It is a living, a life-giving thing. 
And, as you look, you say: Behold, a parable from the 
plant to illustrate the life of man. But what do yon 
mean by an "illustration"? Our life relation to Christ 
is a deep and hidden wonder. So we make it plain by 
bringing in a vine. This is what Jesus did. But there 
is a wonder in the vine, just as hidden and profound. 
Deep answers unto deep. Now think. Just what has 
this parable done? Just how does Christ teach? If you 
have eyes to see, here is wisdom surpassing all the sages. 
2. The direct teaching. Here we leave the parable 
and the vine one side. We face the soul of man. We 
study man's religious life. To begin with, set down all 
its elements. Get the matter straight. Put the three 
essentials first: Christ, the vine; disciples, the branches; 
the Father, the husbandman. Then set by itself the in- 
terrelation of the three : Christ's support of the dis- 
ciples;. the disciples' life in Christ; the Father's owner- 
ship and lordship over all. Then name the other fac- 
tors : the discipline unto purity; the nourishing unto 
growth and joy. Now study each. 

(a) Who is Christ? It is easy to say, he is the 
"vine." But that is the parable ; it is a figure, an illustra- 
tion. Think. The "vine" is a parable, a figure, an illustra- 
tion of what? Read vv. 7-1 1, with your very mind in your 
very eye. Define your Lord in the very terms he offers 
there. He is your teacher and lover and Lord. You 
are his disciple and beloved and obedient servant. He 
brings you truth and love and pure joy. He is the out- 
flowing and inflowing source of these pure, unfailing 
rivulets of real, soul life. Now bring in again the 
parable. Let it "illustrate." But be sure it opens your 
eye to Christ. And now estimate his art. 

(b) What does the Father do? He embodies his 
love and truth in Christ, that so our souls may receive 
that fullness, to the glory of his name and the full joy 
of the Lord. Try your bravest to look in upon the 
Father's work. All that obstructs that truth and love 
and true discipleship in us he takes away. What a 
superbly vigorous and delicate work ! Work fit for the 
hand of God. But unto what teeming increase ! Think 



JJ2 Teacher-'Training icith 

again of the parable. And again estimate your Master's 
art. 

(c) What is the bountiful burden of fair fruit? 
This: We are to have continual fellowship in his min- 
istry of instruction, his proffer of love, his high-wrought 
joy. What a harvest of Gospel increase ! Think into 
this. How this ingathering is going to make us humble, 
as Gospel beneficiaries] And how it will rouse our 
souls to extolling song at sight of him in whom we 
live! And how pure that joy will be! It is fed 
on truth and love, the very essence and energy of pure 
spirit, the very qualities that make us personal and 
immortal. They are very life, never amenable to decay. 
Such is the "fruit." Again recall the parable. And 
still again make estimate of 3^our Master's art. 

(d) What is the "purging" and the "burning"? Do 
you deem them trivial ? Argue it out with any vine- 
dresser. Then carry your argument up to the Father of 
the Lord. Think of the havoc and burden and waste 
through hate, and untruth and pain, how they cripple 
and mar and blight the soul. What will you do with 
them? They are all too real. What will you do? Once 
more explore that parable. And once again inspect the 
full completeness of your Master's skill. 

3. Now summarize and scrutinize the whole. Note 
the fullness of Christ's thought. Weigh all his spiritual 
burden. Test his fower. Try to reverse him any- 
where. Face his themes: truth, love, life, joy, purity, 
lordship, docility, obedience, personal communion, glory, 
judgment. See how simply these themes are related. 
Do you discern the charming unison of the whole? It 
is passing masterly, and passing beautiful. 

Have you really noticed v. 3? All this purity, unto 
all this fruitfulness, unto all this joy, unto all that 
glory, is by means of the Master's "word." What a text 
for teachers ! 



The Master Teacher jjj 



LESSON XXXI. 

Facing Roman Eagles. 

John i8 : 28-38. 

1. The situation. This is the morning of the cruci- 
fixion day. Already, this same morning, Jesus has stood 
before the Jewish court, and received death sentence for 
blasphemy. Now he is brought to Pilate, the Roman 
governor, for execution. All the Jews stay outside. 
wishing to keep undefiled. Jesus stands within, bound, 
before the governor. When Pilate goes out to a.k 
the Jews Christ's crime, they refuse, at first, to tell. 
At last they said they had found him guilty of sub- 
verting the people, withholding the tax, aspiring to the 
throne — none of them the real ground of their verdict. 

2. Christ before Pilate. The governor now goes in 
and faces Christ. He fastens first upon the front 
ofTense, asking Jesus squarely if he pretends to be king 
of the Jews. 

(a) Now try to see how Jesus' mind sets to work. 
Here is a thrust out of the dark. This charge is new. 
But a single hour before, he was charged and tried and 
doomed as a blasphemer. Whence and wherefore this 
momentous alteration ? Moreover, among kings there are 
widely different types. Towards what is Pilate driving? 
Is he speaking as a Roman ; or is he echoing some new 
conspiracy of the Jews? Remember, Pilate and Jesus 
had probably never met before. As he faces the gov- 
ernor now, he stands laden with the penalty of death 
for assuming or aspiring to be a king. How shall he 
reply? He must find from Pilate whence the insinua- 
tion springs, what the insinuation means. Measure the 
Master as he halts. Try and get his own conception 
of this scene, his view of Pilate, his feeling for him- 
self. 



ij^ Teacher^Traming icith 

(b) Now study Jesus' return question. It is not an 
answer. It liolds Pilate off and bids him first explain 
whose question he propounds. How will you view this? 
Does this inquiry spring from caution? Could it be a 
veiled assault on Pilate? Might it be a way of hinting 
that the accused was not of the ordinary run, and that 
Pilate would do well to get his eyes open? Was it born 
of Christ's innocence? May it be the unburdening of his 
indignation ? Was it a stroke of Socratic genius, trans- 
forming instantly the trial into a conference? Or was 
it a simple call for light? 

Keep studying this question, keeping in mind the 
Roman hall, the Roman magistrate, the manacles, and the 
Master. Was the question a masterly turn ? Did it give 
a new complexion to affairs? As the Jews explained the 
case, in what attitude was Christ setf As Pilate under- 
stood the matter, in what estimate was Christ held? 
As Christ answered, what attitude did he take? Sup- 
pose he had made straight answer to Pilate's question, 
what would have been the difference? Think here. 
Christ faces Pilate. In fact, he stands there in the poise 
of perfect innocence, in the beauty of perfect holiness, 
in the guise of an infinitely patient lowliness, in the 
consciousness of supreme nobility. Out of such a fault- 
less, well-poised manhood came that counter inquiry, 
calling upon the governor, before the criminal, to ex- 
plain. Think. Would the Master's inner worth, his per- 
fect innocence of all arrogance and hate and guile, shin- 
ing through his outer seemliness, gain any sort of utter- 
ance, and get in any sort of testimony before the mind 
of a man like Pilate? It would be futile before the mob 
outside. They are hot with deadly prejudice. But think 
of Pilate. He and Jesus are alone. Would the pure 
and quiet glow of Jesus' steady eye reach the eye of 
Pilate, as he bade the governor ponder his own question 
and disclose its source? Do you see? The Master is 
teaching still, though at every disadvantage. Watch him 
work. It is a scene quite worth your study. Fine busi- 
ness is afoot. Jesus is verging near a grand confession. 
In a few moments it will leave his lips. Watch his 
dextrous preparation of the way. 



The Master Teacher 135 

(c) Pilate's reply. It is a trifle curt. But it avails 
for Christ. It answers. His question hails from the 
Jews. 

(d) Christ's first confession (v. 36). Here is a place 
to square yourself for work. His words are few; but 
how their volumes roll! "My kingdom;" "this world;" 
"my servants;" "no fighting;" "not hence." What 
themes ! Have you any notion you can survey their 
sweep? Deeps open instantly. Christ's kingdom is not 
like Rome's, Here resounds one of the main burdens 
of all Christ's words. Read the Beatitudes. Recall 
his Temptation. Here is the upheaving of a mighty sea. 
And it meets a mighty counter tide. Pilate stands for 
force, high . dominion, cruel war. Jesus stands for 
truth and gentleness and peace. There they stand. Let 
your imagination play. It is a stupendous scene. Jesus 
is teaching. And he is handling majestic themes. He 
is matching, there in manacles, the force of a holy life 
against the onset of a Roman sword. He seems a 
weakling. He stands in bonds. But he is a king. And 
he knows his lineage. It is sublime. And it is teaching, 
teaching of matchless depth and daring and true dignity. 

(e) Now Pilate drives his original question home. 
Watch it get its shape. Jesus has said strange words. 
But they concerned his realm. This implies that he 
deems himself a king. This implication must come 
clear. "Are you then a king?" This is like a Roman 
sword, short and to the point. 

(f) Jesus' answer is equally strong and plain. "The 
word you utter I adopt. I am a king. This is the point 
and purpose of my life. This is my sole mission." So 
the Lord responds. He not merely and barely answers, 
"yes." He fairly enthrones his claim. Royalty ordered 
his birth, shaped his plans, girded all his life's endeavors. 
First and last, through and through he is a king. 

Here is a scene for your keenest eye. Try to define 
Christ's posture. Surely he is no coward. And he is 
no dullard. And he is in his ofiicial pretense no nig- 
gard. And he is no sluggard. He stands within two 
hours of the cross. But while the day lasts he works. 
Work away at this. Describe the Lord, as he holds the 



ij6 Teacher-Training with 

Roman governor at halt, while he expounds his plans 
and claims. 

(g) See his second confession grow complete. He 
defines the nature of his reign. He is witness to the 
Truth. Here is the vital heart of all this scene. In the 
Lord^s brief day this hour is deepening eventide. But 
the light of this confession is, for all the eyes of all who 
ever essay to teach, the glory of full noon. To the very 
death the Master stands for the very Truth. 

3. Christ's teaching qualities. 

(a) His patience. Review Christ's public life. How 
is it all coming out? Nazareth chased him for his life. 
Capernaum was as brass. The five thousand all mis- 
understood. The sadducees were intractable. The phari- 
sees were bitter and proud. The Sanhedrin vote him a 
blasphemer and stand just outside, fretting for his blood. 
All that is left is Pilate and the cross. Who but Christ 
would have kept back the wail of bitter despair. But 
measure his patience. It is absolutely infinite. What a 
hint for teachers ! 

(b) His energy. Review his life's full stretch. How 
tense its strain has been ! But his loins are girt to the 
very last, and he is as a strong man ready for a race. 
This last announcement has all the vigor of youth. Do 
you see the secret of this unwasting virility? He was a 
devotee to Truth. And his zeal was pure. Imagine it 
giving way. It is impossible, absolutely. This is big 
with meaning for teachers. 

(c) His gentleness. Review his surroundings again. 
He is in a Roman hall, beleaguered with the implements 
anci arrogance and soldiery of world-conquering Rome. 
And he stood there as no underling. But study him. 
How gentle he is ! In exactest literalness, he is the 
Prince of Peace. 

(d) His purity. That w^ord Truth. In all this 
stately conference that element is the center and sum. 
For light and force it is like the sun. He is King of 
Truth. This is his last confession. Next comes the 
cross. What a word for teachers ! 



The Master Teacher jjy 



LESSON XXXII. 

Risen, But Teaching Still. 

Luke 24 : 13-32. 

I. Introductory. One feature here is easily supreme. 
Jesus is raised. He is ranging in a realm of unexampled 
triumph. All his foes are beneath. All his struggles 
are behind. He is demonstrated Prince of Life. Read 
over and over all these recitals, until you have real 
share in their transcendent quiet and peace, the risen, 
self-revealing Christ being the center of your thought. 

(a) Contrast the situation of Christ and the state of 
his disciples. WJiile he was all light, transfigured, they 
were in the dark, all bewildered. Let both these reali- 
ties have place. Open your mind. Fall in with those 
two disciples sympathetically. Bring right along your 
own forebodings and dark wonderings about the grave. 
Sense their state — the cloud, the wrench, the grief. 

(b) Now imagine. See Christ mxaking up to them. 
He is moving in light and peace. They are groping in 
darkness and distress. See how he joins them. How 
true to life! How like the Lord! He is the soul of 
gracious courtesy. He glides alongside those heavy, 
jaded lives just as freely and easily and naturally now 
as ever he did before his death. 

(c) Now study this marvel of dissonance and uni- 
son. The transcendent Christ treads upon the earth 
with all the lowliness requisite to keep perfect step with 
grief-stricken, wayfaring men. His majesty is confess- 
edly unsearchable. But his partnership with narrow 
and humble lives is free and genuine as the w^ooing of a 
mother's love. Conceive the very attitude and air, the 
very look and voice of Christ as he stepped forward into 
friendly conference with those drooping lives. Here 
is something going on, worth all your eyes. How does 



ij8 Teacher -Training icith 

peace lay its hand on anguish? How does strength 
make touch with weakness? How does light shine in on 
darkness?' Look here and see. 

2. Christ makes the initial step himself. They wer-i 
not disposed to draw up to him. He drew up to them. 
They were all engrossed in grief. He broke his way. 
But see just how. 

(a) He feels after the train of their conversation. 
"What words are these w-hich you are exchanging with 
each other, as you walk?" What a lesson for teachers! 
Go where men walk. Find what men feel. Hear 
what men say. 

(bj Eut note. Jesus' query was not a curious peer- 
ing. In reality it is an invitation. He is asking them to 
open out to him their evident grief, and this solely 
with an eye to steady and console. Read vv. 17-24. Sec 
how gently and adroitly he wins his way. 

(c) But see again. This ingenious way of his is not 
mere dexterity. A goodly tide of brotherly sympathy is 
flowing here. It is a warm and appealing friendli- 
ness that is finding out a way for the Master's further 
ministry. Study with your nicest thought this wise in- 
vasion of Jesus' kindliness into those sorrow-darkened 
lives. Here is a fine display of finest art — the art of 
sympathy. Look into it. See how love and true dis- 
creetness walk together. Real compassion is ingenious. 
Skill and tender friendliness go arm in arm. Here is 
heaven's own light for teachers. 

3. The Lord's cheer. And now their tale is told. 
Their sorrow has broken through speech a highway to 
the heart of Christ. He has their secret. They have 
his ear. Now they w^alk in unison. And yet how far 
asunder they are ! As they complete their recital, they 
stand unrelieved. They see no thoroughfare. All seems 
blank and dark. But the Master is all light. But he has 
won their heed. Their souls are unto him, though 
their eyes are blurred. Thus they fare along. Now 
watch your Lord. 

(a) He turns about to ancient Hebrew Scripture. He 
selects the Messianic parts. He lifts aloft two themes : 
the Messianic SufiPerings, the Messianic Joys, And then 



The Master Teacher /jp 

he chides in his companions two faults : their want of 
thought, and their want of faith. 

(b) Now gird up your loins. Can you walk with 
Christ within these deeps, along these heights? Thither 
he led those sufferers for their relief. Do not refuse 
to follow. But you will need all your strength. The 
Messianic Sorrows! The Messianic Majesties! Be- 
tween these two far-sweeping themes, in the presence 
of those two plodding, common men, vibrate the 
Master's words. Think of the Messianic sacrifice. Why 
"must" he suffer so? Why must he suffer at all? No 
profounder question will ever face your mind, and none 
more fairly demanding an honorable reply. It cannot 
be trifled with. This must be understood, if you aspire 
to teach. Do not snap at answers here. You touch good 
teaching at its very nerve. 

4. Now see where they stand. They have plodded 
forward till their home is reached. They stand before 
the door. Instinctively the two turn in. Just as prop- 
erly Jesus holds straight on. 

(a) Here is a point to pay good heed. As this con- 
versation opened, Jesus fell in uninvited. They had 
no inclination towards his fellowship. But see now. As 
he essays to draw apart, they step across his path and 
constrain him to be their guest. Here is something 
fine. He showed himself their friend. They instinctively 
befriend him. Now their kindliness is mutual. This 
is a teacher's most precious reward. Study with all 
your soul to see how it was won. 

(b) But the scene is not yet complete. Enter with 
the Lord and see him join their feast. Do not forget. 
He is the risen Christ. He is past all weariness or need 
of meat. But see him recline with these way-worn men. 
Can you define his mood and attitude? He does not 
eat. But he truly joins .their meal. He takes his place. 
He took the portion of bread ;. he blessed it before their 
eyes ; he parted it between the two. And then their 
eyes began to see. And then he became invisible. 

(c) Now study. For a teacher's eye few earthly 
scenes will ever transcend this. Look upon this humble 
journey and simple meal. Here that long drawn con- 



/4^ Teacher^ Training 

ference culminated. This fellowship at the feast was 
the final touch. As he took their food and spoke the 
word of blessing, the vision broke upon them, their 
eyes awoke, their burning hearts grew clear, their 
trouble calmed, they believed the prophets, they under- 
stood why Jesus died, they knew him risen and that his 
glory had begun. But look again. See how this change 
was wrought. Are you at all sure you understand? 
Review it all. Here is just about all you ever need to 
know of teaching art. Jesus the crucified, the glorified, 
the compassionate ; the two disciples, downcast, foot- 
sore, ahungered ; the majestic programme of Hebrew 
hope, the sublime fulfillment in the Nazarene, the 
humble highway conference ; the lowly, friendly meal ; 
the burning, the vision, the vanishing. Con it all. Make 
your soul familiar w^ith your Master's Scriptures, his 
sorrows, his glory, his eagerness after men, his neigh- 
borly wayside ways, his greetings, his blessings, his 
guestly grace, his perfect brotherliness. He was ideally 
a friend. He knew how to teach. 
5. Teaching hints. 

(a) Breadth. Will you note the sweep of your 
Master's thought? Here were two humble men. He 
woke familiar strains. But to give them joy he trav- 
ersed immeasurable realms. Get compass. 

(b) Experience. Every word of Christ was warm 
from his own life. This life was inextricably woven 
into theirs. That interwoven life, for a little sundered 
and eclipsed, he now displays in unity and light. 

(c) Friendliness. Study the easy entrance of this 
supernal life into humble paths. What is the nature 
of a richly furnished teacher's approach to a meager 
pupil's life? Is it condescension? What is conde- 
scension? What is friendliness? 



Summary Studies 

CHRIST'S GENERAL TEACHING TRAITS 

Each lesson that follows here being singly built on all 
that have gone before 



141 



LESSON XXXIII. 
He Was Full of Truth. 

This is an elemental trait. It lay among the founda- 
tions of Christ's being. Feel after his deepest inner 
consciousness. Truth was a trunk nerve. His assur- 
ance was rock-fast. See if you can detect him betraying 
anxiety or timidity or uncertainty anywhere. See if he 
ever seems to be feeling his way, as though in the dark ; 
recalling some words, as though to apologize; revising 
a verdict, as though he had misjudged; knitting his 
brow, as though nonplused. No. Timidity, misgiving, 
remorse were sentiments he never felt. He never re- 
traced his steps, nor recalled his words. He spoke 
what he knew. And his confidence was not faint or 
dim. It always stood at full meridian. All his thoughts 
shone clear ; all his words had weight. It is amazing to 
see how many of his utterances are axioms. 

1. But what needs primary heed is, that not merely 
in his opinion nor in his testimony, but in his very being 
Truth stood identified. He and Truth were one. This 
is truly a stupendous claim. But nothing less is fair. 
Test it where you wish. Reproduce any scene you like ; 
and see what happens, when the Master speaks. Facing 
whatever company, treating whatever inquiry, Christ's 
part in the scene is not merely his word, not merely his 
deed; it is always primarily himself. In every speech, 
however brief ; in every deed, however fleet, his person 
flashes out full-orbed. In every gesture his whole mo- 
mentum is engrossed. He is the Truth. Study this. 
Every lesson is an illustration. 

2. This means that Jesus had an infinitely vigorous 
self-respect. He bore sharp contradictions — all that evil 
genius could invent — and with a meekness that has 
never been matched. He sufl"ered every reproach, not 
declining the cross. But hear his verdict. Those con- 

143 



1^4 Teacher^Training with 

tradictions were the head and front of human sin. In 
scorning Christ wrong-doing reached its apex. But the 
dreadful summit of that sin owes all its awful eminence 
to the heavenly heights in Christ which it assailed. The 
Saviour meekly bore the storm. But he did not bow 
his head nor leave his base. He stood in all his majesty, 
well knowing that his high integrity had not been 
touched. He and Truth stood fast. Truth and he were 
one. The same high consciousness of self shows grandly 
in all his conversations with his friends. Study the pro- 
portions of any scene where followers are hanging on 
Christ's lips, or clustering about his acts. See how he 
towers. He overtops all throngs like Lebanon. In all 
his gentle friendliness, he is like the everlasting hills, 
benignant, but supreme. It is always so. And it is so by 
the Lord's design. He knows his majesty. It is of 
his very substance. He is the Lord. In him men live. 
He is their vine. He is the bread. He is the Truth. He 
is his own best gift. He guides and lures men to him- 
self. So supreme, so central, so inwTought, so inlaid 
with very Truth is the Master Teacher's self-respect. 

3. This means that he was always real. He was 
deeply genuine. He never passed out counterfeits. He 
never made pretense. You deem this commonplace. 
But are you sure you see its reach? See if you can point 
out scenes where such suggestions might occur. Study 
the second and third temptations. Feel for the deeper 
tides in that talk with Pilate. Think what habit, cus- 
tom, tradition had fastened to such an act as washing 
hands. Follow this tendency out. It has cut deep fis- 
sures in human life. Jesus often faced it. It often 
proffered gain. See if you detect his swerving by the 
breadth of one hair. Then view it from the other side. 
See if Jesus always fully meant all he so plainly said. 
or really intended all he seemingly did. Take the theme 
and act of prayer. Take his approaches towards the 
poor. Take his w^ord? on birds, or on the Holy Spirit, 
or on humility. Follow this up. See whether you are 
really ready to abide by all it means to say that Christ 
was always genuine. 

4. Now explore his equities. In all his teachings see 



The Master Teacher i^^ 

how values balance. Dealings must be fair. He is al- 
ways setting deeds and issues in mutual respect. Review 
his portraits of a steward. Hear his oft repeated laws 
of true discipleship. Mark his accent on repentance. 
Hear his warnings to Capernaum, and his woe upon 
Jerusalem. Study again that prodigal's home. Note 
how sadly its equilibrium was disturbed. Then see if 
3'ou can show exactly how that equilibrium was restored. 
Grand equities are embodied there. Then look into the 
equity of the Lord's awards, e. g., for such as suffer 
wrong. Essential truth is hidden here. But it nestles 
in the heart of grace ; and the Saviour's cross is its only 
key. But everywhere the Lord arouses conscience, and 
bids each hearer to be fair. He builds on equity ; and 
never more truly than when he hangs upon the cross. 
There infinite cost stands facing infinite wrong. That 
anguish was no pretense. It embodied genuine truth. 
In those deep sorrows, as in the pangs of true repent- 
ance, full equity stands unveiled. There, as always else- 
where, Christ and Truth are one. 

5. And sometime take the sum of Christ's convic- 
tions. Get the content of his mind. What did he be- 
lieve? Find the measure of his full faith about us men. 
Be minute, and be exact, and keep on to its very end. 
What does Jesus think of men? Then seize other 
themes. 

6. Now study the Master's fine regard for Truth, 
as he scored falsity in men. How he despises arro- 
gance ! How he spurns formality ! How he hates a 
hypocrite ! Do you catch the irony in his request for 
the common boon of heaven — a cup of water — from the 
race-proud Samaritan ? Do you see how his elemental 
truth works to the same undoing of sham valuations, 
as he dines with outcast men ? He has but to sit and 
eat, and the gaudy fabric of class pride must sink in 
full collapse. It is high drama to walk in the honest 
Master's wake, and see the social bubbles burst. 

7. Test it in particular in his call for penitence. 
Impenitertce is defiance of plain truth. It hides. It 
makes out. It lies. Repentance is of the truth. 
Through and through it is genuine. It is confession. 



j^^ Teacher^Training with 

Deep in its very heart it is real and frank and true. 
A repentant soul hates darkness. An unrepentant 
man hates Hght. He seeks the path of deceit and all 
hypocrisy. Here are deep things. And Jesus touched 
the rock in his thoughts about repentance. Tune your 
ear to his words. They are like a cathedral bell. Their 
tones roll everywhere. And their central melody is the 
music of pure Truth. 

8. Then watch your Master's posture before an am- 
buscade. Men plotted to entrap his steps, as though he 
was forever eluding light. See him uncover each decoy. 
He always walked in light. His transit was like the 
passing of the sun. He could not be entrapped. And, 
what was more, he could not be escaped. The plotters 
were always ensnared. He opened every trick. His 
simplicity was wiser than any device. And all his secret 
lay, not in deeper and more intricate counterplots, but in 
unmixed verity. 

Such is one pure trait of Christ. He was engrossed 
in verity. He plead for deep reality in men. He had 
no place for vanity. He always made deceivers ill at 
ease. He made truth-lovers glad. He felt no wish, he 
had no use for subterfuge. His path was always straight 
and plain. His tones were full and clear and firm. His 
girdle was bright immortal Truth. Hence all his fire 
and skill. Hence all his peace and strength. He cher- 
ished Truth with all his heart. He guarded Truth at 
every gate. He was Truth's bravest champion. 



The Master Teacher i^y 



LESSON XXXIV. 
He Was Full of Grace. 

The face of Christ must have been beautifully benign. 
The movements of his good-will must have hung in per- 
fect poise and swung in freest ease. For he embodied 
and unburdened all the love of God ; and he had com- 
passion on all the ills of men. Scan each Gospel page. 
Find how frequent is that word "all." He healed "all" 
that were sick. He went through "all" their towns. 
Come, "all" who labor. Christ was no provincial nor 
recluse. He went "everywhere." And his impulse was 
pure love. 

1. Study this in detail. Think of those 5000 whom 
he fed. Imagine Jesus singling out and sending off a 
single one ! His bounty came to each. See him spy 
Zaccheus. He had a vigilant eye. Observe him leave 
the surging feast and make his lonely way to that 
friendless invalid at Bethesda. Watch his heavenly 
kindness run those errands on that resurrection day. 
No mortal stood so lone nor so remote, that Christ's 
attentions had to fail. He tended "every" branch. Fol- 
low this with all your eyes. See how Jesus singles out 
his ministries. And notice this. As the Master turns 
from multitudes to one, does his t)enevolence cor- 
respondingly contract? 

2. Then study love's diversity. See Christ heal that 
blindness in the ninth of John, and feed that hunger 
in the sixth. Then note his teachings, as they ensue in 
either case. And now consider. Is the Master's kind 
solicitude throughout these scenes identically the same? 
One hour he grants men physical sight and bodily food — 
both favors wrought in perishing flesh. Anon he opens 
to the inner eye and the undying life a vision of the 
Son of Man and of the bread of life. See now if 
you can fathom the mighty deepenings of his concern, as 



1^8 Teacher-Traimng with 

he turns his kindly ministrations from the dying body 
to the deathless soul. Both are love. But they diverge. 
Can you see the difference? And can you trace it in 
your treatment of your class. Now v^atch his mercy 
towards the young ruler and Zaccheus. Get your mind 
attent. Both these men are rich. Both have rank. Both 
show respect. Both seek his face. Both gain his love. 
But mark the difference. The youth resents, the publi- 
can adopts Christ's gentle intimations of self-denying 
good-will. Now be distinct. Ponder separately the 
Master's love for each. Wherein do his kindly senti- 
ments towards each exactly agree and coincide? And 
wherein do they become unlike? Can you make this 
plain in words? Can you illustrate it in 3^our handling 
of your class? Do you have like variety? Now com- 
pare the love that made him weep before- Jerusalem with 
the love that took expression in the parable of the vine. 
One is the agony of a heart's farewell before beloved 
who fling contempt and unrelenting scorn. The other 
is a joyful outflow of affection in a tender parting con- 
ference with eternal friends. In both these scenes the 
voice is tremulous with love. And the voice is one. 
But here is twofold love as surely as there is a 
double range in Lebanon. So study love's variety. Make 
familiar to your eye the love that provides an evening 
meal, and the love that cherishes an immortal life ; the 
love that opens a sightless eye, and the love that broods 
over an unfolding mind ; the love that strives in vain 
to dislodge selfishness; and the love that feels full 
sympathy gain place ; the love that gladly shares the 
wholesome pains of penitence, and the love that meekly 
bears with obdurate hate ; the love that is pure solici- 
tude, and the love that has perfect peace ; the love that 
breaks down in wails, and the love that rises up in song. 
Search out illustrations. 

3. Examine the occasions that drew out the Sav- 
iour's love. See men's hunger, pain, and solitude ; their 
peril, fear, and crudity ; their cravings, and capacity, and 
neglect ; their wonder, darkness, and bewilderment ; 
their promise, and their hopelessness. Scan every one. 
Find out what moved and drew the Lord. 



The Master Teacher 749 

4. Mark whom he loved. His mother, and the 
Magdalen ; his disciples, and Samaritans ; proud phari- 
sees, and hard publicans ; the leprous, the friendless, the 
bereft ; the infant, the decrepit, the despised ; the un- 
tutored, the unclad, the unfed ; the heavy-laden, the 
demoniac, the lost. Pursue the search. Enumerate 
every one. It is a famous throng, multitudinous, motley, 
curious. But for once they were genuinely beloved. 

5. Inspect his love's inventiveness. Find the marks 
of dow^nright ingenuity in that parable to Simon in Luke 
7; in that many-sided argument against greed in Luke 
12 ; in his ansv^-er to Peter in Matt. 18 ; in his words to 
that lawyer in Luke 10; in his discussion of the cost of 
glory in John 12 ; and in his parable of the vine. Every 
device is in the interest of love. For the progress of free 
grace, Christ's thought would instantly find or hew new 
paths, if none appeared. His ministry of good-will was 
no slave of custom and fixed ways and forms. His 
kindliness was always free. Here are rich rewards for 
teachers, as surely as they search. 

6. See how his love endured. "How often" did he 
try to call Jerusalem under his wing? How many were 
"most" of his mighty works in Bethsaida? How often 
did unkind retorts draw forth new evidence of his 
kindliness? How much did Peter cost him? Did you 
ever try to fathom his forbearance, when they "bound" 
him? How far had love been strained, when he washed 
the disciples' feet? Then, when they scourged him, do 
you think there was then in the patient Saviour's love 
any of the breath of life? Suppose you try to get his 
love's full strength. See if you can find where its ten- 
sion broke away, all his patience being gone. And then, 
that public pageant of the cross ! Did you every try to 
compute its draft upon your Saviour's love? Follow 
up this work. Study the Saviour's love. See if you 
can find anywhere its hound. Surely this deserves 
respect. You hesitate to begin. But do you care to 
decline? It is the very heart of Christ. Look. What 
is his love's full strength? 

7. See the full measure of its condescension. Of all 
his loving deeds, which would you esteem the most 



i^o Teacher^Training tcith 

minute? How far do'djn would Jesus stoop? Was any 
act too humble? Did he scorn the small details? What 
was his posture, characteristically? Here is God's pure 
light for teachers. 

8. Compute the precious content of his love. The 
framework of his ministry was an alabaster box. What 
costly ointment did it contain? Never anything less 
than his own full self. Test this anywhere. Go through 
that talk with the woman of Samaria. Discern just how 
it ends. Look into that covenant between Peter and 
Christ, as they leave that boat. Find the climax of that 
conference at Emmaus. Fathom the passion of that 
woman at the Master's feet; just what was her reward? 
Try it with Zaccheus : what was his permanent gain ? 
Nothing less than Christ. But approach the question 
from the other side. As Jesus offered men everywhere 
his love, what did he mean to give? Always himself. 
It was so at Bethesda and in Bethany, in the mount and 
- on the sea ; in every synagogue and at every feast ; when 
commissioning and when correcting the Twelve. And 
its earthly climax was on the cross. There he literally 
offered up himself. Past all denial, here are topics 
worth our thought. Heaven help all would-be teachers 
to come to fully see how the Master Teacher loved. 



The Master Teacher i^t 



LESSON XXXV. 
He Was Wholly Pure. 

I. Note Christ's estimates and ways with things that 
perish. Name any perishable possession you can find he 
ever owned. When he was crucified he had one seam- 
less robe. What more? Hear again that word to the 
rich youth : "Sell all/' Suppose the youth had obeyed. 
How full a duplicate of such self-denial would he have 
found in Christ? Call up again those frequent words to 
his disciples about hating possessions and friends. How 
far did those teachings find echoes in his OAvn life? 
Listen again to that "Be not anxious for the morrow." 
Do you catch there deep undertones of Christ's own 
heart? Recall that prayer, "Give us day by day our 
daily bread." How literally, do you take it, the Master 
lived by that petition? Remember his direction to the 
Twelve to take no purse. How closely, would you say, 
did his own practice illustrate that rule? Think of 
what he said about birds and foxes. Do you suspect he 
ever found extremities where he found comfort for him- 
self in God's care of birds? Do you suppose his forty 
days of fasting, and the ensuing Satanic solicitation had 
any life-long meaning for Christ? After all, what was 
the meaning of his emphasis upon his ministry to the 
"poor" ? Was he merely comforting misery ? Surely his 
intent looked deeper than that. Read again that parable 
of the farmer-fool. Are you sure you see its very point? 
Fix your thought for once on that "not rich toward 
God." W^ith what does that contrast? That farmer's 
life was sordid. It should have been refined. But how? 
Make some definitions here. What in verity do all these 
words mean? See if you can imagine Christ hoarding 
anything perishable. While he lived he had not where 
to lay his head. And when he died, his very tomb was a 
loan. He did live in the flesh, He did have daily need 



^^2 Teacher^Training icith 

of food and raiment and rest. He recognized all these 
as proper to man. But study once more his message 
to that rich youth. Weigh out again your carefullest 
that awful word about the fatal peril of wealth and the 
camel in the needle's eye. Work this out. What is the 
deliberate attitude of the Master's life, his own every- 
day life, to this deep problem of material wealth? 
Surely for himself he held his being pure. He did not 
find his joy in pamperings of the flesh. He was spirit- 
ually refined. He was always rich towards God. 

2. Think into the same inquiry, as it opens in the 
religious realm. Get Christ's opinion of a formalist, the 
man whose religion is a thing of time and place and 
rite and phrase. Think carefully here. What did Christ 
condemn? He had much to say of hypocrites. Recall 
how much of his contentions with men lay within the 
religious field. Just what was the chronic trouble here? 
Study into that last great feast, the time when he was 
crucified. That festival was first and last religious. 
This was why those Jews held back from Pilate's hall. 
It was a pagan court. Its precincts could defile. They 
must keep their religious sanctity intact. , They were 
holy worshipers of the one true God. But Christ was 
thrust within. And he witnessed there a good confes- 
sion. Now define the difference. And keep Christ's 
point of view. Get in earnest here. No finer study will 
ever seek your thought. Think it out. Christ's religious 
life was absolutely pure. Ponder long those words at 
Jacob's well, on worshiping the Spirit God in spirit 
and in truth. Here are thoughts well worth your while 
to think. There is nothing like them to make the life 
of teachers deep and high and pure. They will cease to 
deal with idols. 

3. Test the same in ethics. The Jews were rigid 
moralists. They had long codes of rules the most 
minute. They took keen pride in their correct behavior. 
Listen to Simon's inner self-applause in Luke 7. See 
the self-complacency in Mark 7. Think of all the phari- 
sees and all the Master's critics. Recall in particular 
their scrupulous observance of their Sabbath day. Call 
up the ruler and the Lord once more. Both stood for 



The Master Teacher /jj 

moral life. In many ways the two stood outwardly 
alike. But in verity their moral ways lay far apart. 
Now get clear about their difference. Was the youth 
immoral? Wherein? Was his morality unreal? Just 
how? Then Christ's morality — by what adjective is its 
very substance best defined? It was wholly, deeply, 
truly pure. It was not a 'code of form. 

4. Thus Christ retained full sanctity. He kept him- 
self pure. His life was spiritual. He held his heart 
unbound. His inner life was kept forever free. All 
carnal things were kept subordinate. They had their 
service for a day. They were apt to perish, or be stolen 
or get lost. Such transient values could never content 
an unperishing soul. His cravings were for the bread 
of life, for beauty passing Solomon's, for rest in heav- 
enly mansions, for treasures that would never rust, and 
for eternal friendships. His morals were far more than 
manners. They were vital qualities, spiritual and un- 
seen. And his worship far transcended temple, ritual, 
feast, and phrase. For him his God was Spirit; and 
his respect was spiritual and pure. Such was Christ. 
He was spiritual primarily. That in him which was full- 
grown, full-formed, full-trained and fully free was his 
living soul. 

5. This meant thoroughness. The Saviour was not 
half and half. His spiritual health was full. His sky 
was always clear. No cloud of sordidness ever lay 
across its face. At earliest sight of things that coarsen 
or sully or defile, that pamper the lust or handicap the 
will, his strong, free arms swept them entirely and in- 
stantly clean out of the temple of his life. And his 
purity was equally entire in handling other lives. He 
probed to the very core. No hiding place was left any- 
where for any lust. Devotion could not be mixed. 
Purgations must be complete. 

6. This opens to Christ's profundity. Others might 
offer incense before outer symmetries of personal life. 
He pressed into its inmost shrine. Publican and prodi- 
gal and harlot and alien gained his praise, if only, with 
mourning for their defilements, their inner longings were 
pure. While others were training the physical frame to 



t^4 Teacher'Trainincf icith 

facile, graceful ways, his thought was deftly feeling 
towards the heart and contriving how to give holy free- 
dom to the will. Reach for his very life's philosophy 
in his words about the bridegroom and the washings 
' in the second and the seventh of Mark. He sought to 
get life's fountains pure and free. 

7. Here lies the secret of the Master's unmatched 
hospitality. His friendships were unbound. He declined 
all restraints of race and rank, because the clew to all true 
kinship nestles in the inner life. Gross outer habitudes 
and forms are not the seat or sum of personal worth. 
He put them all aside. He paid instead his deference 
to honor ; he had respect for rectitude ; he felt true pity 
for true-felt penitence ; he found delight in faithfulness ; 
he made glad covenants with purity; he rested in real 
friendliness ; he honored every reverent soul ; he deeply 
loved the lowly — indifferent all the while to tribe or 
grade. His fellowships were purely spiritual. 

8. So the Master lived and worked. He paid due 
heed to the normal needs and cravings of the human 
flesh, and to the proper helpfulness of outer forms. He 
healed and fed the human frame. He cleared and rever- 
enced the sanctuary. But he taught that the temple, 
with all its beautiful stones, should be made desolate ; 
and that man should prize his life more than limbs or 
hands or eyes. Test this anywhere. Catch his accent on 
the spirit life with Nicodemus, the Samaritan, in Naza- 
reth, with Simon the pharisee, in John 6, in Mark 7, 
wnth the rich fool, with the rich youth. Study each and 
all until you find the very essence of the high refinement 
of your Lord. See how his heaven-born soul made all 
its way amid the soilures of our earthly life unsm.irched. 
Stand by him at the High Priest's bar, and in that 
Roman hall. On every side is base alloy. But Jesus 
Christ stands incorrupt. He is absolutely pure. 



The Master Teacher i^^ 



LESSON XXXVI. 

He Had Authority. 

Though Christ was always lowly, and never arrogant, 
his ministry was always vested with a kingly majesty. 
The grasp he laid on human life was imperial, and it has 
never yet relaxed. He was patient as a mother ; but he 
was regal, too. He often suffered pain and stood be- 
neath reproach ; but he was never faint nor wilted down 
in shame. He often fashioned questions and sought 
replies, he often referred his case to the judgment of 
other men; but it never betokened that his own mind 
hung in any suspense, or wavered in any doubt. He fre- 
quently made appeals, and they were frequently re- 
pulsed; but the force and beauty of those appeals were 
never once impaired, not the merest whit. He often 
forged strong arguments, only to find their reasoning 
disdained ; but every chain and every link of his con- 
nected thought hold fast to-day with cogent, unspent 
force. All he ever said, all he ever did, all he ever was 
had overwhelming strength. However men might inter- 
lock and struggle to counteract his work, the onset of his 
life was every time preponderant. He was gentle, to the 
point of sacrifice; but he was prevalent, to the point of 
victory. His deference for all men stands exemplary for 
all time; but his dominion over all was invariably com- 
plete. Here is something worthy any teacher's reverence. 
The Master Teacher is true Lord. 

I. One aspect is his assurance. He never seems 
tentative, as though unclear. He never appears solici- 
tous, as though unsure. Test this. Take the outside 
circuit of his official plan. It compassed all the world. 
It was to wear through mighty centuries. It was to face 
deep-set antagonisms. Now, as he makes up to this 
stupendous task, closely watch his mien. It gives at 
times plain signs of awful agony, but only to be 



1^6 Teacher^Training with 

matched by an awful energy, and to be ruled by full self- 
mastery. Such a countenance could be upborne by 
nothing less than an eternal confidence. Study this 
in that tragedy by Pilate. Then study it at Nazareth, 
and at Capernaum. He knew. He knew his task. He 
knew his strength. He knew the last alternatives. With 
perfect self-control he took and held his ground. Cer- 
tainty in him was elemental. His daring could be 
supremely fine; and it could be supremely calm. 

2. Another aspect is his lordliness. He knew him- 
self, and felt himself, and called himself a King. Follow 
in his wake, and ask men anywhere. Ask the impotent 
man. Ask Zaccheus. Ask the Samaritan woman. Ask 
the sadducees. Ask Judas. Ask Peter. Ask those 
sojourners at Emmaus. Ask demoniacs. Ask the resur- 
rected dead. Then study his averments about true 
prayer, true brotherliness at feasts, self-righteousness, 
the lure of wealth, true stewardship. Test him every 
way. Try denying the validity of any word, or the pro- 
priety of any deed. Fancy reversing his decree at some 
superior court. Try this in John 5. Try it on his 
final word about Capernaum, remembering it was keyed 
to their impenitence. Test it on his tribute to a little 
child. See if you can designate one place where Christ's 
lordship has been or ever shall be overtopped. Pursue 
the task. Make full testing of his majesty. Is he really 
incomparable and supreme? 

3. Another aspect is finality. This may seem a repe- 
tition. But study it by itself. Take any scene. See 
when and where and how the Master brings transactions 
to an end. Where do Gospel conversations stop. Take 
your thought right there, and look around. Examine 
how they terminate. Do discussions really end? Do 
they reach a terminus? Study this. Where does Jesus 
usually land a pupil? Think about this. How often 
does he lead to a vantage of free vision? How often 
does the conference culminate in an exercise of trust? 
Which is better as a finality? Teachers have need of 
clearness here. Has Christ real authority, after all? 
Can he fix finalities? Is he Lord? Study especially the 
Master in dissension or debate, and see how unanswer- 



The Master Teacher 157 

able he is. Test this in all those Sabbath scenes. Can 
you show exactly how he shuts off further words? 

Study him when he sits as judge. At every turn he 
is passing estimates on men. Collect those verdicts, and 
compute their gravity. They are all eternal. They bal- 
ance endless destinies. But he never seems as though 
venturing with a guess, or trifling with the truth. He 
plainly feels and knows the dreadful purport of his 
words. His solemnity is supreme. His behavior be- 
comes a judge. Make proof of this in that teaching over 
a little child. All his ways in that bright scene are 
gentle. But in those brief phrases roll the undertones 
of eternity. See this in his parables. Well nigh all of 
them are vestured with supreme judicial majesty. And 
remember. They are all spontaneous. In them the inmost 
impulse of his heart springs uncontrolled and free. 
Their tone betrays the temper of his soul. They show 
his very instincts. And their judicial renderings bear 
every semblance of being deemed beyond repeal. Read 
again that story of the spurned feast, or that about 
laborers in the vineyard. Do you conceive that those 
interpretations of the kingdom's law are likely to be 
revised? Impressive signs of the same judicial lordli- 
ness come clear in the tendency of men to resort to 
him for opinions on their controversies. Glean such 
instances together, and study what they mean. Each 
case disclosed the movement of an instinct. Do you 
believe this true? And do you see its bearing on the 
radiance and ascendency of Christ's judicial thought? 

4. Make special study of that scene with Pilate. 
Walk all about the Master's lordliness, as presented 
there. He avows that he is King. Examine his throne. 
Describe and define his realm. Name his insignia. Set 
forth his ways and means. Who own his sway? And 
why do they submit? Every answer poises on one single 
word. Truth upholds his throne, outlines his realm, 
gilds all his symbols, provides his sinews, fills and orders 
all his train. Truth is his girdle and sword. Truth is 
his beauty and pride. Truth is his glory and strength. 
Truth is his footing and crown. Truth binds all his 
followers, and is the sole armor of his soldiery. Truth 



1^8 Teacher 'Training with 

scatters all his enemies and consummates all victories. 
He is King of Truth. This is his word to Pilate. And 
it is no idle claim. He is soon to seal it with his 
blood. Now make some survey of its magnitude and 
majesty\ Tr\' to gird its amplitude. Try to scale its 
excellence. Tr>' to feel its strength. Are you sure you 
have proper sense of Truth? Do you see that it is 
impregnable? Do you see that its beauty is perennial, 
that its power can never waste, that its body will never 
die? And do you see how absolute is Christ's affiance? 
He knows and loves and publishes pure Truth. He 
never faints nor doubts. He never halts nor fears. He 
never gives an inch up to retreat. His throne is for- 
ever. He is forever on a throne. Linger here. Your 
Saviour is supreme. And his supremacy is secure. 

5. But look again. See devotion mingling with 
dom.inion in his life. He who is mjghty Lord came to 
humbh' serve. Over all his majesty there is a beautiful 
grace. He figures as a deputy. His dignity is denied. 
He always speaks for God. But in all that fine humility, 
behold the shining of high majesty. He verily speaks 
for God. See it in the fifth of John. 

Thus the Master reigns. He is most gracious King. 



The Master Teacher i^g 



LESSON XXXVII. 
He Was Thoughtful. 

The Master must have been much in meditation. 
Proof of this lies ever>-where. Survey, e. g., the swing 
and plunge of meaning in his summons to repent. As 
he struck the outHne of that theme, no thinking was 
ever more profound. That single law% if well obeyed, 
would set the whole world right. The same sure mental 
penetration shows full in his indictment of hypocrisy. 
But strip away pretense, and the utmost range and in- 
most reach of life runs real ; deep plots would face the 
sun, and erring estimates w^ould become correct. That 
word about one Spirit God was, in its place, a master 
thought, well poised, well aimed. It broke through all 
conceit of time and place and form and many unreal 
gods in the religious realm forevermore. Study into 
that word "love" in the parable to Simon, while the 
woman bathed his feet. Careful thinking chose and 
placed that little word. See if 3'ou can show^ whereon it 
rests, to what it leads, just what it is, and what its sure 
reward. Then try the parable of the prodigal. Fix on 
that awful self-renunciation : "I am unworthy to be 
called thy son." There struggles no chance phrase. He 
who can closely trace the Master's thinking in that short 
speech has made discovery of everv' filial bond, of all 
parental care, of all the claims of equity; and of a mora] 
riddle which only Calvary can solve. 

Then see him argue through the grounds and forms 
and paths of prayer. Those words are bom of thought. 
That thought is ultimate. And that the Saviour knew. 
Test this in his arguments. Try to part them. See how 
his life was interlaced with thoughtfulness. There are 
arguments in his very deeds. A major premise, and a 
minor, and a grand conclusion were interwoven in his 
walk, when he bravely turned into Zaccheus' home. Try 



i6o Teacher^Training with 

this : I honor all true men ; Zaccheus' humanity is true ; 
I dine with him. Watch him weld the logic of his life. 
It is fashioning everywhere. He forged strong thought 
when fighting Satan, and when offering the highpriestly 
prayer; when balancing beatitudes, and when delivering 
woes; when cleansing the temple, and when healing the 
paralytic. His acts were arguments. Imagine his true 
lips and life uttering anything inconsequent or absurd. 
His day, through all its course, was lucid. And its every 
flash and ray were by design. He was a Teacher in 
very deed. 

He Was Balanced. 

See if you can find in Jesus any bias, or onesided- 
ness, or fanaticism of any sort. East and West were 
equally open to his eye. He saw heaven and hell, earth 
and sky, peasant and scribe, cradle and grave. He was 
equally at ease by the marriage altar, and by the bier ; 
among the hills, and on the sea ; in the hall of Pilate, 
and in Emmaus. He stood in full repose, when trans- 
figured, and while being bound. He moved with natural 
grace, when making the triumphal entry, and when 
ascending the cross. He had a lion's strength, and the 
gentleness of a lamb. He could sting or soothe, rebuke 
or praise, inspire or overwhelm. See him face the luxu- 
rious ruler, and the impoverished Peter, each with in- 
stant, adequate address. Above all get the even balance 
of his truth and love, of self-devotion and self-respect, 
of majesty and humility, of eagerness and peace. Every- 
where and evermore his equilibrium is exact. Nothing 
spoilt his poise. . 

See if you can see into this. Explore into his rest 
in God. His life was central. He never roved. He 
fastened upon the essential point. All his thoughts and 
words were focal, pivotal. His estimates were keyed to 
spirit, lowliness, truth, grace. And he had breadth. In 
handling men he seized on traits, where all have fellow- 
ship. He wrought in the reaches of hunger, pain and 
sin ; of conscience ; aspiration and fear ; of impenitence, 
unfriendliness and greed. He plowed main currents 



The Master Teacher t6i 

every day. And he kept firm hold of either oar. Study 
this in Luke 12 and Mark 10. Get the evenness of his 
swing, as he deals with need and trust, with loss and 
gain. Mark the rhythm of his thought, as he handles 
honor and humility in the presence of a child. So 
always. The dispositions of his strength were set in 
marvellous equivalence. He had fine sense of symmetry. 

He Was Simple. 

His life and aim were one. He was universal Friend. 
He came to unify. He often told his errand in a single 
phrase : He came to save. He held unvaryingly to one 
goal ; he was always making towards the cross. Befit- 
tingly, he always probed towards conscience. From what- 
ever point, by whatever path, he was always pushing 
towards the heart to dislodge sin and build up holiness. 
He knew but one alternative ; and that was doom. But 
even that lay coiled inextricably in holiness, and con- 
science, and the cross. See this as consistency, and as 
persistence. He never swerves, or doubles, or becomes 
ambiguous. His speech is one. His life is one. He had 
one prime desire. He handled all mankind alike. Nico- 
demus, the young ruler and the haughtiest pharisees, 
were treated just as he treated outcasts and harlots and 
publicans. For Jews and Gentiles and for all the world 
he had one cross, one repentance, one forgiveness, one 
fellowship in joy. 

He Was Replete. 

He walked in fruitful gardens. All the clusters of 
his thought were plentiful. Take that conversation with 
Nicodemus. How it superabounds ! Measure the out- 
burst of his thought in John 5. It drew from ample 
reservoirs. And those reservoirs were fed from the infi- 
nite sea. The love of the Father for the Son — what an 
upspringing stream ! See his familiar access to the 
treasure-house of nature. All his instances and illus- 
trations from teeming earth are only samples of his 
wealth. Then see how all the value of his own full life 



/6:2 Teacher 'Training icith 

lay always ready to his touch. And how often he swept 
all its compass in swift review ! His progress was no 
meager rill. His ongoings were the movement of a 
mighty, far-spreading tide. And it all was fluid to his 
will. His being was of heroic mould. His ample soul 
gave ample room for the Holy Spirit's full anointing. 
He was freighted with the all-embracing love of God. 
He stood ready daily to bear witness to all Truth. His 
orb shone always full. This is one of the grandest 
wonders of his ways. Test this anywhere. Test it 
everywhere. Quick as you face his eye, you are facing 
fullness of all light. Wherever he walks, that, path be- 
comes a highway. Wherever he stands, that spot be- 
comes a focus. And this not because he says or does or 
seems so much. It is simply that he is central. Hence 
he is replete. Approach him on any side, and he is all 
there. And when he draws near to us, he is always ad- 
vancing from the throne and standing in its whole efful- 
gence. All his ways and paths are radii. Test this as 
he journeys towards Emmaus. When that talk began, 
those pilgrims had no heart, no joy, no hope. But when 
that conference closed, their heart and joy were full. 
There was no lack. 



The Master Teacher i6j 



LESSON XXXVIII. 
He Was Intense. 

There was in all the Master's work a fervid glow. 
He was in earnest. He never lapsed into apathy. His 
toil wore out his day. Feel again the vigor of his 
pulse by Pilate. Remember again the constant tension 
of his life's toil. There had been a ceaseless, super- 
hum.an strain. But mark the ardor of his unspent 
passion in that last and most unlikely hour. His zeal 
is fervid still. His will is unrelaxed. His interest in 
his mission beseems his prime. His blood is up. He 
seems to know he braves all Rome. And with footing 
like the temple rock, and triumph in his tone, he fronts 
the Roman arrogance, and lifts aloft again the whole 
grand programme of his life, while knowing well that 
before that morning's sun should stand at noon his 
body would hang dying on a cross. And this was a 
sample scene. In all. he ever said there was all the 
earnestness of his very life. It was just the same in 
Nazareth. Right there he set the opening battle of his 
life with open eye right where he knew the certain cost 
must be his life. And so it was all through. Every day 
he gave his life. Do you see this deeper meaning in that 
step that led to Zaccheus' home? That was a quiet 
act. But it had within it all the earnestness of the 
cross. The same intensity struggles in those parables 
of Luke 15. Get all your senses operant, and touch that 
chapter anywhere. Its stress is infinite. Test this 
often in that paragraph that grew together on occasion 
of those visiting Greeks. There is fine action here. The 
movement of that speech is like the thrust and pull of a 
giant piston-rod. The Master's thought is like the 
pressure of pent steam. You will labor many faithful 
days before you gauge the energies of that scene. The 
Lord was tense. Within all his seeming quietness there 



i64 Teacher-Training icith 

swung the strong vibrations of a powerful heart. God's 
throne was based in righteousness. In all the world 
raged wickedness. He was God's vicegerent. Within 
his being throbbed all the strength of the balanced inter- 
play of the moral universe. There was ceaseless, awful 
strife. He stood in the very brunt. He would never 
surrender. He would never disguise. He would never 
make a trade. He was in earnest. Every moment 
he stood ready to offer up his life. He kept the faith. 
He loved the Truth. The cross was the efflorescence, as 
well as the climax of his life. He saw the awful end. 
But he despised the shame. He welcomed all the cost. 
He never lost his zest. 



He Was Ready. 

This stands open beautifully there in Nazareth. But 
it is striking everywhere. Mark his instant skill with 
parables. How often they were invented on the spot ! 
Their beauty burst forth in a flash. Test this at Simon's 
feast, by Peter's query about forgiveness, in the story 
of the marriage feast, in the picture of the farmer-fool, 
in the chapter of the prodigal. This is always clear in 
scenes of conference. Study that argument in John 5. 
No profounder, grander, plainer course of thought was 
ever set in human speech. But all -its plot and train were 
laid and opened while he spoke. Study here his com- 
ments at his feasts. Test this over that homily on a 
little child. See the Master select (mark this) and 
expound that deep-laid theme. It was swift and sure 
as a flash of light. Test this anywhere. See if you find 
signs anywhere that he was caught unprepared. Watch 
his finger, as it finds that word to Moses at the bush, to 
show the sadducees. How quick and true its indica- 
tion. But he had no warning. And yet how sure and 
wise and durable his wit just there! Test this in the 
portrait of the prodigal. That picture will bear a micro- 
scope. It is done with infinite carefulness. And yet it 
is nothing but a wayside sketch. His mind was always 
at home, awake, in trim. 



The Master Teacher 16^ 

He Was Brief. 

Read again his chief discourses. The Sermon on the 
Aiount can never be called long-drawn. But its brief 
stretch is broken many times. And each scant fragment 
is little but a lively covey of varied, shining apothegms. 
Take the parables. For literary terseness in the most 
literal sense they stand unapproached. As mental epi- 
tomes they match his miracles. They are truly marvel- 
lous. In the blending of conciseness and easy grace their 
art stands finished. In every one of them' refinement 
has touched the last degree. Study his instructions on 
the theme of prayer. Name the notable qualities of those 
words; then note their brevity. Those utterances 
answer for a full philosophy of prayer. And the pulsing 
of their phrases is perfectly free and smooth. They 
lie there in that model and discourse as warm and fair 
and unrestrained as the life in an infant's arm. But 
they can all be easily rehearsed, while two swift minutes 
are running out their round. Study his own highpriestly 
prayer. That supplication ranges everywhere. Traverse 
all its sweep. Then calculate its time of utterance, and 
its space in literature. 

Test this through Tuesday of the passion week. No 
task was left unfinished. But he made short work of 
everything. Hear him in the final judgment halls. His 
words there are like rifle shots. Look into this. The 
chiseled precision, the instant readiness, the unwavering 
directness of the Master's speech make its compactness 
a prime phenomenon. Study it. No finer mental exer- 
cise for teachers can be found. Learn from Jesus how 
to keep the easy play of flowing life and yet remain 
concise. 

He Was Intrepid. 

Christ feared nothing. And he braved everything. 
Did you ever try to penetrate all the vista that opened 
before his light-filled eye when he faced his baptism? 
In the very midst of that sacrament he stopped to 
fashion and off^er up a prayer. Suppose you try to think 
what that entreaty meant. He must have felt right then 



j66 Tcacher-'Traming wth 

and there all the weight and strain of his inteiise career. 
But you can detect no tremor or shudder of cowardly 
dismay. Think into this. Imagine Jesus shrinking back 
from that tremendous instant when the Holy Spirit 
sealed and made irrevocable all the infinite joys and 
awful sorrows of the Messianic work. He must have 
foreseen all. But see how steady and clear his purpose 
stands in that sacramental exercise of prayer. Never 
did unsullied bravery stand in more exigent demand or 
clearer display. 

The same strong fearlessness stands plain in Naza- 
reth, in the sermon on the mount, in the sending of the 
Twelve, in all his outright thrusts at petted sin. He was 
constantly imperilling his peace and good standing with 
the high fashion of his time. But he felt no awe for sin 
or sinners, however high. 

And he did not lie in idle barracks. He was always 
out in the open field, and on hostile soil. He dared to 
burn all bridges, and make the conflict ultimate. Study 
here his triumphal entry. Viewed one way, that pageant 
wore an ineffable grace. But examined again, its intre- 
pidity was absolute. Review again his struggle with 
Satan in the temptation scenes, his message to Herod, 
his dialogues with pharisees, his final parley with Pilate. 
Every scene shows not mere defense, but a stout-hearted 
dash and onset of bravery that made contestants quail. 
He knew that darkness could not face the light, that 
intrigue could not undo integrity, that truth could put 
error to open shame, that right could conquer wrong, 
that death must yield to life, that Satan would bow to 
God. And as Champion of truth, and Prince of life 
and Son of God, with eager, deathless, dauntless heart 
he chose the center of every battlefield. He was in all 
the world its truest Hero. 



The Master Teacher x6j 



LESSON XXXIX. 

He Was Concrete. 

Christ was always in the thick of life. He dealt with 
beating hearts, active wills, current deeds, vital states. 
He kept to things in easy reach. To show God's care 
he points to flowers. To show God's grace he heals 
the blind. To teach humility he points to a blushing 
child. To show a miser's folly he talks of barns and 
feasts and laziness. To show fraternity he eats with 
publicans. To demonstrate immortality he mentions 
Abraham. To recommend submissiveness he points to 
himself. To intimate the fitness and potency of prayer 
he points to a hungry boy. To show how honor may 
shine in lowly deeds he washes his followers' feet. 
He always keeps in touch with things in easy 
sight. And yet he is never shallow. Here is prime 
counsel for all who teach. Christ could be both vivid 
and profound — a twinship none too common in the 
teaching realm. Look into this. It is your life. His 
dealings with our daily things were never trivial. They 
always show profound discernment. He understood. 
He sensed their meaning. He opened up their deeps. 
He was always connecting them with God. He brought 
to light their interest. He showed how items in our life 
cohere. He was a supreme interpreter. He could make 
familiar things that men thought strange. He could 
show that distant things stand near; that transcendent 
things lie within our range ; that common things are 
precious; that humble things can be sublime; that 
each day's hues are heavenly ; that every man is God- 
like. This is wonderful. Christ's speech was always 
simple. But it was unfailingly incomparably profound. 
His ways were often homely. But he never failed to be 
sublime. His walk was in the very midst of plain men's 
daily life. But he had eyes to see. 



i63 Tcacher^Training with 

He Was Manifold. 

Every finished landscape is finely variegated. So with 
the teaching art of Christ. He was continually resort- 
ing to a new device. See his parables. Now they paint 
a king, now a sheep, now a vine, now a debtor, now a 
marriage feast, now an ox, now a band of angels, now a 
humble herdsman, now a house rock-fast, now a trav- 
eler in distress. Again he paints a woman with her 
broom, a fisher with his net, a bridegroom with his wife, 
a trader with his team, a farmer with his land, a brother 
cherishing hate. Hear his appeals. How they vary ! 
Now he stirs the tendency to fear, now to greed, now to 
father love, now to love of praise, now to fair requital. 

He touches the life of man everywhere. He feels 
the lure of trade, the charm of art, the joy of fellow- 
ship, the thirst for gain, the fire of zeal, the bitings of 
remorse, the ambition to control. 

His speech looks every way. Wherever humanity toils 
or frets, weds or sobs, fails or gains, his eye looks heed- 
fully on, and his thought shapes befitting words. As 
variegated as is the face of human life, so variegated is 
the face of the Saviour's teaching art. See how impres- 
sively this comes clear in his portrayals of human sin. 
Spotless as the sky hiniself, the reflection upon the sur- 
face of his speech, of every sin-flecked phase of human 
life, gives its truest, fullest picture that we have. But in 
it all was unity. His life was like the sea. It lay un- 
changed, while conforming to the pressure of every pass- 
ing breeze. 

He Was Poetic. 

The Lord's inventiveness was phenomenal. No fac- 
ulty of his spirit was more nimble than his fancy. All 
the world of thought, and all the world of fact seemed 
plastic, almost fluid to his touch. His speech is a pano- 
rama of living illustrations. His addresses were dramas 
in miniature. Study that parable of the prodigal. Its 
reality is absolute. But it is pure invention. Look into 
that transaction of the host disturbing his neighbor's 
rest for a gift of bread for his supper less guest. No 



The Master Teacher i6^ 

actual incident could be more vivid. Yet it is nothing 
but a quick device of free, creative thought. To his deep, 
liquid eye all nature was astir with life, and instinct 
with suggestiveness — ^fit raiment for many beautiful 
thoughts. See him find fair livery for his messages in a 
spreading vine, a blooming plant, a dying seed, a barren 
tree, a worthless weed. He found wings and feet for 
his lessons in the nestling bird, the burrowing fox, the 
watchful hen, the ravenous wolf, the filthy swine, the 
helpless ox, the loathsome dog, the witless sheep. His 
wit found ready helpers in water, bread and salt, in light 
and wind and rain, in house and door and tomb. To his 
imagination the leaven in the meal, the ferment in the 
wine, the shrinkage in the cloth were teeming with in- 
structiveness. See engaging pictures fill his mind, as he 
passes stew^ards, physicians, merchantmen ; a father, a 
neighbor, a judge; a shepherd, a fisherman, a king; a 
debtor, a widow, a guest; a father, a son, a friend; a 
miserly fool, an unneighborly priest, an unmerciful fel- 
low-servant. But his ornaments were never gauds. 
Though they made his teaching beautiful, they were 
never mere embellishments. His fancy never left reality. 
His very figures body forth the truth. To his deep- 
seeing eye the whole round world was solid, solemn 
parable. His fancy was true vision. His vesture was 
pure light. 

His Ways Were Beautiful. 

Here is a charming study. Imagine Christ receiv- 
ing decorations. He never did. He never could bedeck 
his form. He never set an ornament. His beauty was 
all inborn. Study this in John 4. That woman doubt- 
less carried meretricious charms. Recall the Biblical 
description of an adulteress' attire. Now study Christ, 
as he arrests her eye. He stood in pure and native 
grace. Try to fancy this. Read again his gracious hint 
about a heavenly gift; his deft reminder about her per- 
sonal sin ; his wholesome hope for unity between Samari- 
tans and Jews, under one true Spirit God ; his open man- 
liness ; his posture of quiet, suffering respect before her 
halting courtesy. Here is beauty such as would make 



I JO Teacher-Traming icith 

this seamed earth heavenly fair. Have you eyes to see ? 
Note its pattern there in Peter's boat. As his presence 
graced and trimmed that little craft, his behavior to- 
wards those throngs, and towards Peter's sturdy arms 
traced out a Spirit's profile, which it would be the crown 
of highest art ever to reproduce. Follow this every- 
where. Christ was ideally urbane. He was thoroughly 
refined. His manners became the heavenly court. See 
him lay his palm upon the head of a little child, and lift 
his prayer, and say "Of such is the kingdom of heaven." 
Tarry here, until you see in what beauty gentleness and 
dignity may blend. Jesus was wholly fair. His life 
w^as passed without a fleck. The open face of his- be- 
havior stands forth unsullied, radiant, benign. He is 
the world's full norm of inwrought grace. 



The Master Teacher iji 



LESSON XL. 
The Whole in Brief. 

Now it is time to clear and brace your mind to gather 
all these lessons into one. Here is an undertaking fit 
to tax any mortal at his best. You will need your finest 
insight and your best device. Attempt it every way. 
Try this. Did you ever come to love an oriental rug? 
Think how it came to pass. Some person told you it 
was beautiful. You entered the bazaar. All was strange 
at first. Each sample seemed a medley of unmeaning 
forms and hues. At length your eye became engaged. 
Lovely colors lay in view. Outlines took on order. 
And at last it stood forth clear that careful thought in- 
wrought the whole ; that every thread was closely set to 
fit a high design ; that all those hues were sterling as 
the very sun; that all those figures joined to form a 
pathway to the sky; and that the whole fair outline was 
a reverent symbol of religious faith, an instrument of 
prayer. 

Something such is the Gospel pattern of the teach- 
ing art of Christ. At first it may seem destitute of or- 
dered unity. But the various scenes will bear a nice 
inspection. It soon comes clear that beauty and order 
are everywhere. Fair outlines gleam from every part. 
Every figure is athrob with life, and vividly aglow. The 
whole is fashioned by a fine design. There is a Gospel 
teaching art; and Jesus holds it in full mastery. And 
when his work is done, there spreads a pattern of re- 
ligious fellowship in which in very deed the earth and 
sky are beautifully made one. 

This unique achievem.ent deserves minute examina- 
tion. Such investigation shows these prime realities. 
Four qualities are inwrought in the Master's teaching 
art, like four prime colors in a rug. He weaves in 
Truth, Love, Purity, and Lordliness. These four are 



iy2 Teacher'Training with 

primal elements, simple, original, unmixed. And these 
four are all. By skillful, varying use of these, all hues 
and outlines of his work are mixed and shaped. All 
other tones and qualities of his life are varied minglings 
from these four. Majesty, verity, purity, charity, in 
simple or in some blending guise, fill out his life. They 
hold the solid substance of all he does. 

But they merge and interplay in manifold variety. 
Hence all the changing phases of the Saviour's skill. 
The heavenly pattern is transfigured every day. But 
the facile Saviour stands the same, the soul of honor, 
the source of mercy, all spiritual, true Lord. Keep 
your eye on each. And never fail to notice how their 
beauties blend. Tr>^ these following four tests. They 
are merely sample final studies. They show all the 
Master's excellence in one glance. 

His Vigor. 

Christ's bow abode in strength. He ahvays stands 
erect. He faces every day's endeavor steadily. And 
when the day is done, his forces are still composed, 
unstrained, and free. And unlimited reserves seem 
always at command. Then watch the outflow of his 
beneficence. By every sign it was exhaustless. Follow 
his endurance. His patience and persistence never 
sagged an inch. Where were his zeal, or long-suffering, 
or respect for righteousness, or trust in God, or abhor- 
rence of all sin ever more robust than through that 
closing week? Trace this through all his life. His 
force w^as irreducible. 

But now see what in very fact that energy was. It 
was nothing but the interleashing of those four ele- 
mental traits. His soul had majesty; his life was purely 
spiritual ; he stood champion for truth ; he was the 
living medium of God's love. These were all his sinews. 
They were the girdle of his loins. 

His Grandeur. 

Quiet and lowly as the Saviour was, he was never 
other than sublime. His af!inity was with the sky. 



The Master Teacher i^j 

He spoke for God. Yet in this same trait he had strange 
affinity with men. He fully harmonized in earthly 
scenes. But even so he always stood in stateliness. See 
how he towered there in Peter's boat, by that impotent 
man, in the synagogue at Nazareth, when his arms em- 
braced a child. Even when his ways were friendliest, he 
bore plain marks of awful majesty. Study this strange 
fusion of winsomeness and far-surpassing excellence, as 
he instructs his followers how to pray. See it, as he 
engages in his own great supplication. There his visions 
and entreaties become august, fit prelude to the awful 
grandeur of the cross. So always. The Lord had 
transcendent store of weight and excellence. His 
nobility was infinite. 

What constitutes him so grand? It was the pure- 
toned utterance of a worthy spirit life, inwrought of 
heavenly love and equity in the fashion of their own 
inherent dignity. It was the King of truth and love 
coming in his spiritual realm. This was all his majesty. 

His Symmetry. 

Nothing in Christ was overgrown. The features of 
his work were regular. See if you can find where his 
blows were laid too hard, or where they fell too faint. 
See if anywhere you can find his manner was extreme. 
Note his accents. Study his choice and use and nice 
adjustment of ways and means. Was his zeal too hot. 
or his spirit too unconcerned? Watch him set and 
trim the balance of his life. Did he ever leave it in- 
exact? Just where? Balance the beatitudes. Find the 
point of equilibrium in the pattern prayer. Watch him 
poise his thoughts on trust Then get the swing of the 
Lord's own character. Follow its outline. Are his 
shoulders even? Does either footstep halt? Nay, 
verily. 

Now wherein consists his symmetry? Again, it is 
in the easy interplay of lordliness and love and truth and 
purity. His sympathy and majesty agree. Faithfulness 
and tenderness harmonize. And all are fully spiritual. 
They all subsist in unison. 



tp4 Teacher ^Training wth 

His Kinship. 

Jesus was friend and fellow of every man. He cher- 
ished human brotherhood. He walked in step with any 
traveler; and joined in full companionship in daily 
feasts. He was filial son of Mary, and trusty comrade of 
Zaccheus. He was a child of Adam, and of the seed of 
Abraham, and he deeply loved his kind. And he lived 
a normal human life. He showed us all how to be 
true men. He traversed all our varied path. He 
showed subjects how to serve, and rulers how to rule. 
He showed neighbors how to be true friends, the 
suffering how to meekly bear, dependents how to trust, 
the needy how to pray, and all men how to die. He 
was the great exemplar. He bore our flesh, he shared 
our lot, he won our crov^m. His human fellowship was 
complete. 

But In what did this full partnership consist? Surely 
not in eating food and needing rest. Rather in the 
realms of deathless destinies. He revealed to man his 
higher worth in ways of gentle, faithful comradeship, 
beyond all reach of change and death, where dignities 
are won by ministry, and where reverence and lowliness 
never fail. 



Thus the Master Teacher becomes unveiled be- 
fore us in his work. He is the very soul of moral 
earnestness. He seals his teaching with his life. 
His whole heart is in all his work. His own behavior 
shows us how devotion and sincerity may be supreme 
and pure. And his teaching ministry makes us see 
and feel and know that truth and love and immor- 
tality, which stand supreme in him, may be freely 
shared by us. So perfect are his ideal and example 
and art. In all the teaching realm he is the Teaching 
Model for all time. Heaven help us, having caught 
some visions of his teaching skill, to walk in fellow- 
ship with his teaching ways. 



The Master Teacher 775 



Sample Questions for Examination, 

I. BY LESSONS. 
Lesson i. 

What sort of a pupil was Nicodemus? 

What was his chief excellence? 

What was his chief defect? 

What was Jesus' central theme? 

Why did he choose this theme? 

Name all the separate topics Jesus named. 

What was Jesus trying to do with Nicodemus? 

Do you think he gained his wish? 

What was Jesus' estimate of this man? 

Name three good teaching traits shown here. 

Lesson 2. 

Briefly trace through the conversation. 
Define in general the nature of the pupil. 
Name the features most discouraging to a teacher. 
Name the features most helpful to a teacher. 
Define Christ's aim, as he took each step in turn. 
What was his one, main design in it all? 
Show the teaching value of Christ's deftness. 
Show the teaching value of Christ's personal worth. 

Lesson 3. 

How far was Christ equipped for teaching before he 

began ? 
Define briefly his life's aim. 
Why did he allude to that widow and leper? 
Why did that allusion make such trouble? 
Estimate Christ's teaching zeal here. 
Estimate Christ's teaching wisdom here. 
Estimate Christ's teaching grace here. 
Were all these traits well-balanced here? 



rj6 Teacher* Training with 

Lesson 4. 

Name the traits in Christ which Peter would see 

and feel. 
Of these, which ones would Christ design to show? 
Name the signs of Christ's power over Peter. 
In what forces here did Jesus chiefly put his trust? 
What influence had Christ's fellowship in winning 

Peter? 
What function had Jesus' majesty in this scene? 
What was Jesus after chiefly, affection or respect? 

Lesson 5. 

What charge did Jesus have to meet? 

What was the attitude of these men ? 

Show signs that Jesus was driven to self-defense. 

Show signs that Jesus was making assault. 

Are there any signs that Jesus was trying to win ? 

Give a terse outline of his argument. 

Estimate the strength of his reply. 

What use did he make of the Father's love? 

What use did he make of his own character? 

Just what was Jesus trying to defend ? 

Just how, in brief, did he do it? 

Name here two pre-eminent teaching traits. 

Lesson 14. 

Define the disciples' point of view. 
Define their desire. 
Define their fault, as Christ would. 
Name the signs of humility. 
Name the signs of its absence. 
Can greatness and humility thrive together? 
Show how a little child can lead such men right. 
Is this lesson easy or hard? Why? 
Do Christ's words here start or stop thought? 
Name signs here of Christ's mastery of teaching art. 
Show how teaching may be simple and also pro- 
found. 

Lesson 15. 

Describe Peter's state of mind. 

Did he understand his own question? 



The Master Teacher ijy 

Did Christ answer Peter's exact question? 
Name the central tenet of Christ's teaching here. 
Name signs here of Christ's mental agility. 
Name signs here of Christ's mental intensity. 
Name signs here of Christ's mental depth. 
Define the center of Christ's desire for Peter. 
Define the change in Peter Christ's words are apt 

to induce. 
Which seems more notable here : Christ's ease or 

strength in teaching? 

Lesson 28. 

How far w^ere these saddiicees in the dark? 

How far were they in doubt ? 

How far were they sincere? 

Show signs that Christ fully understood them. 

Show the chief resources of Christ's reply. 

Can you gather Christ's theory of handling an 

obtuse scholar? 
Define the value for all teachers, of Christ's main 

convictions here. 
What is the inmost secret here of Christ's skill? 



ij8 Teacher^ Training 



II. IN GENERAL. 

Name four weighty, common difficulties Christ had to 

meet. 
Illustrate the bad effects of pride upon a scholar. 
Show in different scenes how Jesus handled pride. 
What sort of people did Jesus find most teachable? 
Give illustrations of each sort. 

Show where Christ refused to follow a pupil's lead. 
Show cases where Christ volunteered his own theme. 
Did Christ teach mostly multitudes or individuals? 
Give proofs of courage in Christ's teaching. 
Give illustrations of patience in Christ's work. 
Name the most striking cases of Christ's readiness. 
Name the main signs of Christ's profundity. 
Cite four cases where Christ links together an argument. 
Define a parable. 
What is its teaching value? 
In what cases is a parable most wisely used? 
Give the signs of Christ's respect for a pupil. 
Illustrate Christ's jealous devotion to truth. 
Where did Christ ever stand upon his dignity? 
Name cases where Christ's teaching gained success. 
Name cases where Christ's teaching was refused. 
Show what sacrifices Christ's teaching cost him. 
Show what rewards Christ's teaching won before the 

cross. 
Work up a new lesson all by yourself. 

All the above questions are only samples. They may 
be modified and continued, according to any one's wish, 
indefinitely. 



JUL- 13 1904 



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